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Training and Education for Apprentice Athletes Through Mobility
Start date: Jul 1, 2014, End date: Jun 30, 2016 PROJECT  FINISHED 

This current project will address key Eramus+ priorities by targeting and benefiting participants living in a deprived region of Ayrshire who are at a significant disadvantage in the labour market. This mobility project will target young men between the ages of 16-19 years of age who are registered apprentice footballers employed by Kilmarnock FC, a professional football club based in Ayrshire. The town is recognized by the Scottish government as a deprived area where the average income is 26% lower than the national average and among the lowest in Scotland. The Kilmarnock employment rate in 2012 was 67.4 per cent of the working age population, which was significantly lower than the national average (72.2 per cent). This project will allow a group of 18 Kilmarnock FC apprentices (aged from 16 to 19 years of age) to gain experience of the training methods at an acknowledged (UEFA) Centre of Excellence in Turkey. The Turkish host partner is a regional training and coaching complex used by Turkish and European professional teams which are applauded as having world class records in talent identification, innovative coaching and player development. Innovations in physiological development, dietetics, coaching delivery, tactical analysis and cardiovascular training will be studied and used to improve skills acquisition and player development. Improved success rates for apprentices in being admitted to the professional ranks of UK clubs are anticipated, while improved academic attainment and European exposure will improve employability in secondary careers. Consequently this project will prioritise the following specific objectives : 1. Improved physiological development of participants via the implementation of innovative training regimes as a direct result of structured Erasmus+ mobility programme. 2. Skills and technology transfer between the Academy mobility apprentices and players in Europe. 3. Improved employment rates for mobility participants in professional football careers. 4. Improved linguistic skills for participants and an awareness of the cultural diversity within another European country. 5. Increased maturity and sense of initiative. 6. Increased self-empowerment and self-esteem. 7. Enhanced intercultural awareness. 8. More active participation in work and social environments. 9. Enhancement of soft skills. 10. Increased motivation both on and off the field. Our Turkish partner and the associated local Turkish clubs are fully committed to this Erasmus+ project, having successfully hosted IVT participants from Kilmarnock FC funded under the previous Leonardo da Vinci Lifelong Learning Programme. Kilmarnock FC have recently completed a successful mobility trip to the Kremlin Palace in January 2010 and January 2009 and these experiences have formed the foundation for this Erasmus+ funding application. Young people in Kilmarnock and Ayrshire are, in the main, rather parochial in nature and exhibit a reluctance to undertake occupational mobility. This is particularly so with young people in the region where many have poor records of academic achievement and are socially disadvantaged. At present, fewer than 0.6% of persons under the age of 21 in Ayrshire will undertake a work-related mobility placement. This project will directly address this regional shortcoming and will contribute to the Lisbon and Europe 2020 Strategies. Football clubs are fairly unique entities in the access to the media of publicity and this will prove an excellent dissemination vehicle to encourage other young people to seek out mobility opportunities. Kilmarnock FC will publicise the project through local and national media, to include television, radio and national and local newspapers. This will be complemented by our European partners, who will actively participate in the dissemination processes by issuing press releases to local media throughout the mobility. Friendly matches played by the participants against host opposition will be publicised in the host region and attendance by local spectators actively encouraged.
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