A NEW football-led training scheme at Rhyl FC is helping put students on target to reach their goals.
The club's Football in the Community scheme has launched Strikers, an educational programme providing help and support for young adults to enhance basic skills such as reading and numeracy that they may have previously not been able to develop.
Each course lasts for more than 45 hours in three weeks at the newly created study centre at Belle Vue, with the project seeking to improve the confidence, motivation and interactive skills of students to potentially allow them to go into further education or employment.
The scheme operates from the newly created study centre at Belle Vue, which was opened last week after Vale of Clwyd MP Chris Ruane and AM Ann Jones were joined by lifelong Rhyl fan Mary Halley to cut the ribbon in the opening ceremony.
Strikers has also received a visit from Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Wales, with Rhyl believed to be the first club in Wales to offer such a scheme.
Tracey Jones, project manager, said: “We hope to see the young people achieve after coming here and benefit from the learning opportunities provided. We believe football is an ideal way for them to learn.
“We are proud that Rhyl are the first club in Wales to offer a project like Strikers and are helping young people from the area.”
Football is constantly used to help with personal development, such as through monitoring match statistics to help with maths skills. As well as classroom learning, the selected students – who have been referred from outside agencies - enjoy football coaching from qualified football coaches.
Project managers have liased with Charlton Athletic and Liverpool representatives on similar schemes and are supported by agencies including Coleg Llandrillo, Rhyl City Strategy and Basic Skills Cymru in developing the project which has received funding from the Welsh Assembly.
Mr Ruane said: “What we have got here in Strikers is leading the way in the whole of the British Isles. It is excellent to see football used to benefit the confidence of young people on the course and for them to be given a second chance in life. In Rhyl we now have an excellent network of organisations providing opportunities for residents in the town. Tracey Jones is a tremendously enthusiastic person who is helping Strikers to thrive as a scheme.”