Member Article

Youth training organisation Little League Sports targets expansion in 2014 after incredible year

Liverpool-based sports coaching and vocational training provider Little League Sports is planning to expand across the North West next year after enjoying a hugely successful 12 months.

Entrepreneurs Jordan Wright and Joe Mulhearn established the business as students and run it in schools across Merseyside. They see

Manchester as the next significant staging post for their growing firm after a year in which it entered a partnership with the Liverpool FC Foundation and was recognised for its contribution to football in the North West.

“The last year has been significant for Little League Sports,” said Jordan. “We celebrated our fifth anniversary this year and it is amazing to see how far we have come.

“We employ 18 people, mostly young, fully FA qualified coaches, who are already establishing good reputations within the game for their ability to educate and prepare players.

“Now we are looking to take our brand to a wider audience to give students and schools in Manchester and elsewhere the chance to benefit from the standard of coaching and coach training we offer in Liverpool.”

Little League Sports runs post 16 courses in colleges, schools and academies throughout Merseyside where students can earn NVQ level three sports coaching and FA level two coaching qualifications.

This year it also formed a partnership with the Liverpool FC Foundation to send coaches into a vast number of primary schools across the region to deliver LFC’s Skills and Drills coaching programme.

It has moved into new headquarters at Woolton High School and has recently announced a partnership with the Kisakallio Sports Institute in Finland. With more than 200 coaches already qualified through its programmes, Little League Sports is putting the North West at the forefront of the crusade to improve sports coaching standards for primary school pupils.

Little League Sports’ contribution to the game was recognised when the firm was shortlisted in the Business Services category of the North West Football Awards earlier this year.

But for director Joe Mulhearn, the focus remains solely on offering young people a route into sports coaching and delivering high-quality courses and training sessions for primary school pupils.

“The training we provide can open up the world to young people,” said Little League Sports director Joe. “Through the relationships and reputation for quality education we have built we have been able to send student coaches who may never have been abroad to coach in Europe, the USA, South America and Africa.

“But most importantly we have opened up to them the possibility of achieving more. With the qualifications we provide coaches can get on a pathway to the professional game or working in football club academies.

“They can coach young teams or school groups or they can travel and take their skills all over the world.

“Greg Dyke highlighted the lack of qualified coaches and the poor standard of football and sports education at primary school level. We are addressing that by training young coaches and sending them into schools to pass on their skills and knowledge to pupils.”

For details on the training courses Little League Sports provides and how to apply, visit www.littleleaguesports.org.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Dan Minchin .