OFF YOUR CHEST - PROJECT LOG

JUNE - SEPTEMBER 2024

• The off season marked a busy involvement with FA Leadership opportunities however the project is still looking to have an impact in January 2025 with a brand new County FA coming on board yet to be officially announced after an initial internal delay.

• Somerset FA have expressed a renewed interest in including Off Your Chest at events and directly supporting their ongoing workforce and volunteer CPD strategy.

APRIL / MAY 2024

• Surrey FA shared that as a reuslt of the data collected by #OffYourChest, new CPD initiatives are in palnned across Surrey that aims to equip coaches with the knowledge and tools to better support their players’ mental wellbeing, with the intention to use some of the data that came back following the survey to promote this. The survey results are also on the agenda to share with the Youth Forum at the next team meeting later this month, so there may be some new ideas and initiatives that come from it.

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2024

• The Mid-Season Reporting window for the 4 counties that have promoted the project have now closed.

• Surrey FA’s response level merited a large sample and generated a comprehensive report that has been shared to their Surrey FA Youth Forum. Many coaches expressed a desire to attend more in-person training opportunities and the overall score for the county was in great standing.

• Lincolnshire and East Riding have generated a smaller sample but this will be collated over the Easter break in April 2024.

JANUARY 2024

• Off Your Chest has been promoted through Instagram and Facebook throughout January and has reached over 5000 people nationally through social media as we approach the culmination of the Mid-Season Reporting window for the 4 counties that have promoted and pushed the project to their coaching workforces.

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2023

• We end the year with 4 County FAs officially distributing and promoting the project - Somerset FA, Lincolnshire FA, North Riding FA and Surrey FA.

• There are at least 2 county FAs with promotional media ready to go that are in the pipeline to be promoted in line with their own content strategy - both of which cover large geographical areas.

• I intend to share #OffYourChest with other coaching organisations and community networks seperate from County FAs to give the coaches more opportunties for their voice and views to be represented!

OCTOBER 2023

• Somerset FA and Lincolnshire FA have shared their own personalised promotional media created by me across their social media channels.

• A number of other county FAs are also keen to get involved with the project more directly.

• Next steps include creating video content for further promotion.

SEPTEMBER 2023

• All County FAs were contacted to take part - 6 County FAs engaged with the idea of distrubuting “Off Your Chest” National Survey including Somerset FA again.

• Social infographics and announcements are to go LIVE with the survey in early October!

AUGUST 2023

• Upon conclusion of my first season creating, managing and distributing #OffYourChest, at least 555 children’s coaches are determined to support them more by elevating their own knowledge and the demand for new and improved FA Learning resources here in Somerset is evident. I want to turn my “what if” into a “what next?”, and this is how I plan to do it by outlining the Off Your Chest strategy for 2023/24:

• Rewarding one club winner with £100 worth of mental well-being resources at the start of 2023/24 season

• Further supporting that club in particular to up-skill their coaches and case study the progress made

• Determine how much of a priority youth mental well-being is for upcoming FA Learning resources and if it’s already in the development pipeline

• Connect with other county FAs (alongside #SomersetFA) and directly with club organisations to distribute Off Your Chest in other areas of the county to provide an even larger sample size and give greater depth to the research

• Continue to create sustainable ways to support coaches and create safe spaces to use the power of football to not only change games, but to change lives!

• Encourage other coaches to share great practice using #OffYourChest and to signpost to incredible mental health support resources that are already available

JULY 2023

• OFF YOUR CHEST WINS OUTSTANDING YOUTH LEADER AWARD AT THE FA LEADERSHIP ACADEMY GRADUATION CEREMONY 2023!

• To receive this award as recognition for the passion I have for young people being supported in every way in football is truly an honour!

• Thank you to every single person who engaged with #OffYourChest and a part of starting important conversations in football!

• This is just the start - I’ve highlighted the need for more to be done to support our young people through our incredible volunteers. I look forward to pushing this forward in other areas of the football landscape!

• As a coach - and a leader in football, you have more than just the power to change the game. You can change lives!

JUNE 2023

• I received confirmation that I have been shortlisted for the Outstanding Youth Leader Award for the work undertaken for my OFF YOUR CHEST FALA project.

• Regardless of the final outcome, I am over the moon to be recognised as someone pushing what is possible in one of the most rural Football landscapes in England.

• Thank you to everyone who offered their time and assistance which helped elevate and drive the project forward to this point. However, I’m delighted to inform you this is just the start. I cannot wait to share the £100 with the winning club this off-season ready for next season.

• Can only be humbled to be within the nominations alongside other incredibly inspiring and powerful youth leaders. Looking forward to reconnecting with you in person next month!

MAY 2023

• Off Your Chest Season 1 2022/23 data was collected and processed.

• Findings and next steps presented to Somerset FA staff in person as well as connecting with National FA Education staff virtually. Key findings include those below and in the infographics above:

• 59.4% of respondents expressed that they felt less than 75% confident to support their own player’s mental well-being.

• 100% of survey respondents expressed a demand for new mental well-being resources would be beneficial

• 67.5% of respondents expressed mental well-being resources make up a mandatory FA Ecucation Resource would be beneficial

• Worringly, 21.6% of respondents would not feel comfortable seeking mental well-being support from someone else at their club if their own mental well-being was negatively affected.

MARCH 2023 - APRIL 2023

• Off Your Chest Season 1 Somerset pilot survey goes live March 1st.

• The survey was shared directly with club committess from over 40 youth clubs in Somerset by me

• Somerset FA’s Football Development Officer shared with countless more clubs directly via email

• In total, the survey recieved 37 unique responses from coaches representing 25 clubs in Somerset with an assumed reflection of the support 555 children and young people recieve at their club*

• The opportunity for a football coach to be more than just that is clear to see when so many young people are faced with mental struggles. Football can be the escape and/or preventative measure to positively impact mental well-being of the players in their coach’s care - even for only one session.

• There was a 100% unanimous response for new resources to support youth mental well-being OR for mental well-being support to make up more of pre-existing mental well-being resources.

SEPTEMBER 2022 - FEBRUARY 2023

• For the latter half of 2022, I reflected on my time at FALA and wanted to continue to discover what mental wellbeing meant to coaches, club volunteers and anyone else who shares my passion for football.

• This consequently highlighted that if I was to create a new learning resource and/or elevate a pre-existing learning resource, I’d need to measure attitudes from other individuals like me to inform my approach moving forward. After many draft iterations of a Google Form and an incredible number of benefical, insightful and empowering conversations with other FALA attendees, my County FA, my county FA Youth Council I am ready to begin collecting responses for my project. I am looking to enter every individual entry into a prize pool to randomly select one winner to recieve £100 worth of mental wellbeing support for their club. The survey will remain open until 1st April 2023.