Simone Magill returns to highlight impact of community coaches

Northern Ireland senior women’s star Simone Magill visited hometown club Mid Ulster Ladies FC this week to reunite with brother and legendary club coach, Kris – an inspiration behind her football career.

National team captain Magill surprised Kris - who has been with the Cookstown-based club from a young age - as he led an under-8 girls’ session, before the pair reflected on the amazing impact he’s had on her and many others in the local community.

The reunion comes after Chase and the Home Nations Football Associations teamed up to create the Chase football coaching programme – which provides fully funded access to 2,900 introductory coaching qualifications and 85 professional coaching bursaries to support individuals from low-income backgrounds across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

In providing access to fully funded coaching qualifications, Chase is helping more people from low-income communities unlock their potential, increasing representation in coaching to inspire future generations, and helping to build pathways towards future employment.

Recent UK-wide research from YouGov also revealed the power role models can have amongst people from low-income backgrounds, with more than half of those surveyed saying they’d be more likely to progress their coaching journey if they had role models available from more diverse backgrounds.

On top of positively impacting the local community, existing coaches in Northern Ireland also believe that coaching can be the gateway to transferable skills leading to future employment, with 3 in 4 saying their qualification has helped them develop key skills and 58% believing it has made them more employable.

Speaking during her visit, Simone said: “It’s fantastic to come back and see Kris. He’s helped to create a real family atmosphere around the club and has had a massive impact not only on me, but on the entire community, which you can see here today.

“Coaches are so important as they have a wider impact as role models in society, so it’s really positive that Chase and the Home Nations are providing more opportunities for people from all backgrounds to gain coaching qualifications.”

Kris added: “It's fantastic that Simone has come back to visit us and you can see what it means to our junior members. She was a top player from a young age, with a brilliant attitude and I’m incredibly proud to see her go on and achieve so much in the game.

"As a coach, part of your role is to inspire the next generation of talent, it's a rewarding career and has given me so much over the years. It’s great that the Chase football coaching programme is opening up the career to more people and I hope we can inspire others to start their coaching journey."

For more information on the Chase Football Coaching Programme, visit: https://www.chase.co.uk/gb/en/chase-football-coaching-programme/