Rabby was working in a warehouse full-time last year. Despite being grateful for being in paid employment he quickly realised it wasn’t the future he wanted. His ambition was to work full-time in community youth and sports, making a difference in children’s lives.
While working at the warehouse he started volunteering at Pro Touch SA, a longstanding StreetGames partner, as an assistant coach. In his new volunteering role Rabby was offered plenty of development opportunities alongside valuable coaching experience in various settings.
Rabby joined the StreetGames apprenticeship scheme in March 2019, and after making a positive impression he was invited onto the Coach Mate programme. This meant that Rabby received mentoring support from James Gregory, StreetGames Area Director for London, apprenticeship tutor Caroline and Pro Touch SA CEO Ash Rahman.
James tells us, ’During the early stages of Rabby’s apprenticeship, you could tell he was motivated to improve his coaching ability and he talked about wanting to coach in the community but also at a higher performance level too. So I invited him to be part of our Coach Mate programme so we can spend some time together away from the formal workshops to develop his thinking and his progression.’
This extra wraparound support from StreetGames and Pro Touch SA has led to Rabby feeling confident and competent enough to take on the lead coach role in not just Pro Touch SA’s Doorstep Sport sessions, but also the Pro Touch SA under 9s team.
The Coach Mate and peer support that StreetGames has offered alongside the apprenticeship scheme and formal qualifications has helped to build the confidence, knowledge and skills to empower Rabby to take the lead in becoming a real positive role model, not just in football and in coaching, but also in life.
Over the last year, Rabby has gained additional accredited coaching qualifications as well as soft skill accreditation for things like Youth Mental Health First Aid, Emergency First Aid, Managing Challenging Behaviour & Engaging Women & Girls.
Rabby has gained his level 2 coaching qualification in both football and multi-skills, meaning that his employability has increased. The progression Rabby has made has been transformational. He tells us, ‘Getting the chance to work full-time as an apprentice at Pro Touch was a lifeline, it’s a dream come true. I’ve travelled to Denmark last year for work, imagine telling your friends and family that!
Thanks for Pro Touch SA for believing in me and given me the opportunity and to StreetGames for helping me to develop myself as a Doorstep Sport Coach.’
