St Mary's Students Support Chelsea FC Youth Competition

Students on the BA Physical and Sport Education (PSE) programme at St Mary’s University, Twickenham recently volunteered to help support the Chelsea FC Foundation Asian Soccer Star event. The Asian Star event was launched in 2009 and is now in its seventh year, attracting almost 400 young players to visit the club’s Cobham training ground. During the event, players compete in a series of matches and tests to examine speed, skill and ability. The winners in each age group are invited to join the Chelsea Foundation’s Football Development Centres. The PSE students assisted with delivering the tests, organising the matches, referring and supporting the Chelsea FC Foundation coaches throughout the day. First Year PSE student Mary Southgate said, “It was a great experience and opportunity to see how such a large scale event is delivered. It was such a great day and to be able to learn and share the experience with other fellow PSE students was such a privilege.” Programme Director for PSE Michael Ayres said, “This is the seventh year we have supported the event for Chelsea FC Foundation. It continues to prove a valuable experience for our students to work on such a prestigious event. It helps them develop their teaching and coaching skills, gives them an understanding of how a big event is organised and delivered. “The event also gives them a great opportunity to network with staff at Chelsea FC, and over the years many of our students have gone onto work in coaching roles at the foundation.”