Kick It Out: UEFA Foundation for Children and FedEx bring greater diversity to UK football coaching.
FedEx Express Europe and the UEFA Foundation for Children have announced a new charitable collaboration with Kick It Out, a UK non-profit advocating for diversity in football and specifically the development of black and Asian adults pursuing the professions in football coaching and management.
Now in its third year, ‘Championing an Inclusive Future through Football’ was designed by the UEFA foundation in partnership with FedEx, a long-term donor and sponsor of UEFA tournaments. Kick It Out is the third non-profit to receive funding from the UEFA Foundation for Children thanks to a Charities Aid Foundation grant on FedEx's behalf.
Kick It Out will use the funding to support its Coach Pathway Programme which encourages ethnic minorities to remain and develop in coaching and management positions.
Troy Townsend MBE, head of player engagement at Kick It Out, said:
“There is a lack of black and Asian managers, coaches and talent ID scouts in professional English football. Thanks to this collaboration with the UEFA foundation, Kick It Out has managed to provide funded opportunities for a number of people from underrepresented backgrounds.”
A cohort of 15 individuals have been selected and taken on a journey of continuous professional development, with access to mentors, coaching observation opportunities and talent ID interactions with specific support from The FA and the Premier League.
Urs Kluser, the general secretary of the UEFA Foundation for Children, said:
“We’re delighted to continue the diversity, equity, and inclusion programme we developed with FedEx, by welcoming Kick It Out as a new delivery partner. This programme has allowed us to target financial support to non-profits using football as a useful tool to promote diversity and inclusion in communities, specifically among children. This year’s programme shifts the focus from children to young adults, benefitting a non-profit that uses football to promote diversity and aims to improve and maintain diversity from a grassroots level to professional levels of the sport itself.”
Wouter Roels, SVP marketing operations, FedEx Express Europe, said:
“Throughout our journey as a sponsor of professional football, FedEx has been fortunate to see the tremendous value of the work being done by the network of non-profits throughout Europe and the world. Together with the UEFA Foundation for Children, we continue to identify ways to best use our charitable platform. FedEx Cares, to support organisations working in the shadows of professional football to influence positive change either through or within the sport.”
Alongside charitable funding, FedEx and the UEFA Foundation for Children will work together to donate one aspect of FedEx’s sole and exclusive sponsorship rights – the opportunity to provide three player mascots for the 2024 UEFA Champions League final in Wembley– to children put forward by Kick It Out.
Read more about the impact of this three-year programme and the previous year’s charitable collaborations on UEFA Foundation for Children’s website here.
There is a lack of black and Asian managers, coaches and talent ID scouts in professional English football. Thanks to this collaboration with the EFA foundation, Kick It Out has managed to provide funded opportunities for a number of people from underrepresented backgrounds.
- Troy Townsend MBE, head of player engagement at Kick It Out
About FedEx
Project partner
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce, and business services. With annual revenue of $88 billion, the company offers integrated business solutions through operating companies competing collectively, operating collaboratively, and innovating digitally as one FedEx. Consistently ranked among the world’s most admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 500,000 employees to remain focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities. FedEx is committed to connecting people and possibilities around the world responsibly and resourcefully, with a goal to achieve carbon-neutral operations by 2040.
About Kick It Out
Project Partner
Marking its 30th anniversary this season, Kick It Out is English football’s most recognised anti-discrimination charity and uses its voice to call out discrimination and offer solutions for change. Over the last two seasons, more than 2,000 people have signed up to our online education website, The Academy, and in-person education has been delivered to almost 200 perpetrators of discrimination and to over 4,500 players, parents and staff in club academies. Kick It Out also helps develop talent from under-represented communities and offers a widely-used reporting tool that participants can use to help tackle discrimination whether it’s in a stadium, online or in grassroots football. Kick It Out’s Impact Report showed that fans have regarded football as safer and more welcoming over the last three decades as a result of the charity’s work but that much more needed to be done to tackle discrimination. We continue that work to make the game more inclusive for all.
Contact: Becky Gee, becky@kickitout.org