Exciting as a career in football might seem, it’s never a bad idea to have something to fall back on, and the education programme at Kettering Town FC ensures young players get the skills and life experience they need, whatever the future might hold.
At present there are 50 learners enrolled with Kettering Town Learning, headed up by Programme Leader Ben Watts, a UEFA A licence holder, who joined the club recently to lead a team of experienced coaches and educators.
Ben, who has previous experience with Northampton Town, Peterborough United, Kettering Town’s first team, St Neots and is currently St Ives Town’s first team coach, works with tutors Tom Aviss and Matt Carr, development coach Luca Miller and goalkeeping coach Nial Shackleton to develop learners’ skills on and off the pitch.
The two-year programme offers the BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Sport followed by the BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Sport, which combine academic learning and sports training and are equivalent to two A-levels (Diploma) or three A-levels (Extended Diploma).
The programme is delivered at Kettering Town’s Education Centre at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer over two full days and two half days a week, with the rest of the time given over to football training, strength and conditioning, along with preparation for and travelling to matches.
Ben Watts said:
“We’ve got 50 young lads on the programme at the moment, aged between 16 and 19 who’ve either come up through the ranks or who have been with other clubs and successfully applied for a place here.
“There aren’t many clubs at Kettering Town’s level that have these facilities for training and education actually on site so it’s a brilliant opportunity for those who come here to learn. Obviously, there’s the football training but we also have fully equipped on-site gym and a good relationship with Everlast, so that we can give them a full range of physical training, strength and conditioning and things like spin classes for all-round fitness.
“What we don’t do on this course is focus on the outcome being a career in football because we all know how tough it is to make it in the professional game. It’s pretty tough to get on a course like this, so they have already done well, but they need something else behind them for their future and life skills in general, whether they go into the professional game or not.”
The club’s new owners, George Akhtar and Fabian Forde are keen to expand on the facilities at the club, including plans for a 3G pitch on the site for use by the first team, Education and Academy, along with the general public and other sporting groups within the community.
They are also keen to get more youngsters signed up on the education programme for the next academic enrolment in September 2025. The education facility already acts as an Under 18s side for the club, and the intention is to see the club setting up an Under 21s side as well to bridge the gap between leaving the education programme for those with the footballing potential to progress further within the game and at Kettering Town.
To find out more about the education programme at Kettering Town email Ben Watts at Ben.Watts@ketteringtownfc.com
For more details about the club, visit www.ketteringtownfc.com
