Stories

We empower young people to become community leaders and role models. Find out more about the unique and inspiring stories of our Young Coaches and Tandems.

Maria Fernanda – Colombia 2024
Maria Fernanda is a Young Coach who uses football to help children in her community manage their emotions and overcome challenges.
Michael – Colombia 2024
Michael is a Young Coach who uses football as a tool to help vulnerable children in his community find a positive direction for their future.
Joe & Ronan – Tandem 2024
After a knee injury, Joe is now focusing on his coaching career at the Manchester United Foundation Inclusive Reds programme, where Ronan is supporting him in achieving his goals.
James & William – Tandem 2024
James and his dad William are both involved as coaches with the inclusion team at Albert Foundry Football Club in Belfast, with James supporting the Junior section.
Zoe – Mexico 2024
Zoe is a Peer Young Coach who is creating safe spaces for children and youth in her community in Mexico City and who wants to be a role model to girls in football.
Joaquin – Mexico 2024
Joaquin wants to start a sports club at his school to continue making a positive impact on the lives of his students, as well as the wider community.
Luke & Eva – Tandem 2024
Luke and Eva both have a background in handball. Their aim is to promote inclusive sports beyond football.
Dominique & Jonathan – Tandem 2024
Jonathan oversees the inclusion projects at 1. FC Nürnberg and wants to involve Dominique in the club’s activities at special schools.
Marco & Kai – Tandem 2024
At the suggestion of teammates who had already taken part in the Education programme, Kai and Marco did not hesitate to take part in the Tandem Young Coach Education programme together.
Felix & Lorenz – Tandem 2024
Despite their young acquaintance, Felix and Lorenz from 1. FSV Mainz 05 were like a well-rehearsed team after the programme.
Sanyi – Ecuador 2024
Sanyi’s role as football coach has become increasingly important in creating safe spaces for children in her community, heavily impacted by armed groups.
José – Ecuador 2024
José moved from Venezuela to Ecuador in 2018 to be the bone marrow donor for his brother. Football and coaching helped him settle in his new home.
Kobe – Ecuador 2024
Due to economic and family circumstances, Kobe moved to Ecuador to start over at the young age of 17. He has now founded a Venezuelan team in Santo Domingo.
Adriana – Ecuador 2024
Adriana is currently working as a coach for FUDELA in Esmeraldas, a coastal city in Ecuador that is heavily impacted by organised crime.
Astere – Rwanda 2023
Astere is a role model and mentor to many of his peers, passing on his knowledge and experience to over 20 Peer Young Coaches in his refugee camp.
David – Rwanda 2023
David was trained to be a Young Coach by Charmante and Emmanuel, both participants of the Young Coach Education in 2017/2018.
Furaha – Rwanda 2023
Furaha is a coach, role model and inspiration for children in her refugee camp, especially the ones she trains during her football activities.
Finja & Thomas – Tandem 2023
Finja and Thomas first met almost a decade ago. Thomas serves as a coach of the disability team, while Finja not only showcases her passion as a dedicated player in Thomas’ team, but also aspires to become a coach herself.
Adrian – Ukraine Response 2023
His partner Igor and Adrian are dedicated to helping refugees from Ukraine in overcoming trauma and fostering stronger connections with the people of Moldova.
Kateryna – Ukraine Response 2023
Kateryna’s enthusiasm for football led her to turn her passion into her profession. As a coach at FC New Lviv, she trains children from 3 to 13 years old.
Artem – Ukraine Response 2023
Artem currently works for a Japanese NGO in Moldova that offers assistance to displaced Ukrainians and rural Moldovan communities.
Maryna – Ukraine Response 2023
When coaching, Maryna wants to show the kids that she is on the same level as they are, so they can trust her and open-up.
Clara – Tanzania 2023
Clara, a primary school teacher , doesn’t only teach football or sport, she tries to convey life skills to the children.
Samuel – Colombia II 2022
In the Foundation called G2-10, Samuel is comitted to help local and displaced children, as well as children from families in difficult economic situations.
Disney – Colombia II 2022
Through football, Disney helps children escape the harsh reality of everyday life and offers them activities that teach them how to have fun, and keep themselves safe from harm.
Mayron – Colombia II 2022
Mayron started out as a volunteer coach with no formal training. He spent his entire salary on buying training equipment to run proper training sessions with the children in his community.
Camila – Colombia II 2022
Camila has opened her own mixed football school in which she works with children from 5 to 16 years old that come from the vulnerable neighbouhood of Baranoa.
Bruno & Fabian – Tandem 2022
Bruno has already gained a lot of experience in football. After he was active as a coach in the competitive field, he founded his own inclusive football team, called Team United. Fabian plays in Bruno’s team.
Dae Cheol & Matthias – Tandem 2022
Dae Cheol has joined SV Werder Bremen four years ago. He started as a player before he took the leap to also become a coach. His Tandem Partner Matthias is a coach at the SV Werder Bremen Young Stars.
Matthias & Moritz – Tandem 2021
When asked if they would like to participate in the Tandem Education, both immediately said ‘yes’. During the week they learnt step by step how to plan and implement training sessions for children with disabilities.
Yasin & Gregorio – Tandem 2021
Yasin and Gregorio are both from the DreamTeam of FC Basel 1893 and have known each other for some time. Taking part in the Tandem Young Coach education has brought the two of them even closer together.
Daniela – Mexico 2020
At PCR Daniela works closely with coaches from different sports; football, athletics, ultimate frisbee, basketball and others.
Eulises – Mexico 2020
Eulises is working with refugee and migrant children on a daily basis. In his opinion the biggest challenge for them is the integration with the local people.
Daniela – Mexico 2020
Daniela’s main task at RET is to educate its sports coaches on how to include important life skills such as self-care or resilience in their daily sports activities with vulnerable children and youth.
Kuruthum – Tanzania 2019
Kuruthum works for a social organisation as well as being a coach with the football club of her uncle.
Philbert – Tanzania 2019
Philbert’s goal is to motivate children and youth to get active and to not just sit around doing nothing.
Ibadi – Tanzania 2019
Ibadi was driven to enhance his understanding of sports and to generate ideas on purposeful training for children, starting with the internet.
Hussein – Tanzania 2019
A talented footballer himself, Hussein grew up with aspirations of being a professional player but due to a serious injury his playing days ended and coaching became his passion.
Eva – Indonesia 2019
Eva participated in the FCSA Young Coach Education 2014/15 in Indonesia. In March 2019, Eva attended the FCSA Follow-up education in Lembang, West Java.
Agus – Indonesia 2019
As a former sports student at university, Agus is extremely passionate about football – he lives and breathes sport.
Loi – Vietnam 2019
After establishing the football centre with his friends and colleagues, Loi trains over 40 children on a weekly basis.
Thu – Vietnam 2019
Thu studied pedagogy and is a very creative person that mostly teaches art performance and cultural activities with the hope to incorporate sport activities.
Sang – Vietnam 2019
Sang loves working with children and feels that being a good coach will help him to communicate better with them.
Hien – Vietnam 2019
Combining her passion for football and her work, Hien likes to organise fun and educational games for the children in the village, to help them learn while playing.
Hilko & Markus – Tandem 2019
Before the education Hilko and Markus didn’t know each other. The education was a great experience for Markus, because until now he had only worked with young children.
Marco & Jan – Tandem 2019
Marco and Jan have made incredible progress during the education: from blindly trusting each other for the first time, to preparing and conducting training sessions for children with disabilities.
Jacqueline – Rwanda 2018
In her new “home”, the Mahama refugee camp, Jacqueline works for Save the Children, where she wants to be a role model and help the children grow up properly.
Ana María – Colombia I 2016
Ana María opened her own sport school called Atalanta in 2021 and despite the pandemic, within a year over 100 children could benefit from her and her fellow coaches’ activities.
Jarbi – Colombia I 2016
Jarbi started his coaching journey by forming a small team with only 5 children. Now, his activities have impacted more than 2,000 children.
Samuel – Rwanda 2018
Samuel is proud of his technical skills which he learned during the Young Coach Education. He will implement them into his training sessions to help children develop as footballers.
Grace – Rwanda 2018
In the Kigeme camp, Grace volunteers with Plan International as a community mobilizer working on child protection and the prevention of child abuse.
Justin – Rwanda 2018
With the help of fun, small-sided and educational games, Justin now has a way to help the children avoid having negative thoughts.
Charmante – Rwanda 2018
Charmante is a volunteer with PLAN International which works on the protection of children in the camp.
Janvier – Rwanda 2018
In the Mugombwa camp, where he lives with his family, Janvier continues to assist children and to coach them football.
Cecile – Rwanda 2018
Cecile is working as a volunteer in the camp and is part of the children’s recreational activities team.
Jacqueline – Rwanda 2018
Jacqueline’s days are always full of joy as in the morning children come to her home to find her so that she will go and train them.
Kamal – Lebanon 2018
Kamal volunteers for a charitable foundation in Beirut where he passes on the experience that he gained growing up.
Ahmad – Lebanon 2018
Although his dream of carving a professional career in football has passed, Ahmad is happy in his new role as a coach.
Charlie & Taylor – Tandem 2018
The Tandem Education enhanced Charlie and Taylor’s coaching expertise, boosting their confidence in disability football coaching at Newcastle United Foundation.
Gabriel & Evans – Tandem 2018
Gabriel and Evans went through the 2018 Programme together and they gained lots of experience training kids with disabilities.
Elly – Uganda 2017
Elly was educated to become a Peer Coach through Young Coaches from Kampala Kids League (KKL), sparking his passion for using football to change lives.
Oleksandr – Ukraine 2017
Forced to flee his hometown due to the escalating conflict, Oleksandr was determined to continuing coaching, and to be a positive role model for children in Western Ukraine.
Karyna – Ukraine 2017
As a psychologist, Karyna decided to take part in the Young Coach Education Programme to learn how to use football to find a common language with children.
Nikita – Ukraine 2017
Together with his team, Nikita helps children to deal with the trauma of the armed conflict in Ukraine.
Vanessa & Nikola – Tandem 2017
Vanessa and Nikola participated in the 2017 edition of the FCSA Tandem Education in Leverkusen and the Special Youth Camp in Basel.
Ross & James – Tandem 2017
In 2017, Ross and James participated in our Tandem Education in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They both gained tremendously from the training and the reciprocal nature of the learning that we promote.
Hanaa’ – Jordan 2016
Hanaa’s football activities have given children a safe environment to grow as individuals, and most importantly, be children once again.
Eliana & James – Colombia I 2016
James, a human rights activist in Medellín, and Eliana, an educator in anti-personal mines protection, are implementing programmes for children at risk.
Andy – Colombia I 2016
Andy was nominated for the Young Coach Education Programme by the foundation Colombianitos and aimes to give children the opportunity to see life beyond conflicts and crime.
Marvin & Björn – Tandem 2016
Marvin and Björn participated in the 2016 edition of the FCSA Tandem Education in Bremen and the Special Youth Camp in Basel.
Rinto – Indonesia 2015
Right from the start of the education, Rinto was inspired to practically use the know-how and become a leader for children and peers.
Jacqueline & Patrick – Tandem 2015
Every Thursday, Jacqueline & Patrick train the Werder Youngstars. Together with other Young Coaches they train in total 4 teams with around 50 kids and youngsters with special needs.
Parvati – India 2014
Parvati’s own NGO, the Leher Foundation, started out with only 3 girls in 2010. Five years later, Parvati and her peer coaches have over 200 children under their wings.
Govinda – India 2014
Govinda was nominated for the Young Coach Education Programme by the OSCAR Foundation. He is a leader and inspiration to children and adults alike.
Sarah & George – Tandem 2014
Even two years after the education programme, Sarah and George are still a successful “tandem”. The kids from the Old Boys Basel Dream Team look up to their coaches and enjoy the fun sessions.
Fasloon – Sri Lanka 2013
Since completing the education, Fasloon now coaches his own group of children, and has organised several football festivals for children in his community.
Shabella – Uganda 2013
Shabella is a social mother and a sports facilitator at SOS Children’s Village in Gulu, Uganda, wih the impulse to build a community of peer football coaches.