Premier Skills, an innovative football coaching and English language development project jointly run by the Premier League and the British Council (operating in east China as the Cultural and Education Section of the British Consulate-General), will launch in Shanghai today to support physical education teachers in local primary and secondary schools with their football coaching knowledge and skills.
Launched in 2007, Premier Skills is a worldwide project operating in 15 countries. Established in China this year, the training project is held in four cities --Dalian, Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong.
Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore said:
At home the Premier League and our clubs hae a long-held commitment and reputation for investing in community and education programmes. Given our popularity and success internationally we felt it only right to take this approach to a wider community.
It is clear to us that there is significant interest in football --and the Barclays Premier League-- in China. Working with an organisation with the reputation the British Council has, we intend to use this interest in our competition to help develop the core skills of local PE and English-language teachers.!
British Council Chair, Lord Kinnock, said:
This is a truly exciting, creative initiatve. Football transcends race and language among people everywhere. By putting the British Council!ˉs experience and global network together with the Premier League!ˉs great know-how, we can reach countless young people and help to enhance their skills on the pitch, their self-development, and their understanding of other cultures.!
This unique football coaching project begins on July 4, with a six-day training session at the Oriental Land, led by Paul Hughes, Social Inclusion and Projects Manager at Reading Football Club.
Forty-four physical education teachers from 42 primary and secondary schools in Shanghai, from both urban and rural areas, will learn about leadership, coaching skills, fitness, nutrition and sporting-event management. The project strongly accords with current education trends in China and focuses on "whole student" development.
Premier Skills projects are always run in conjunction with local partners and in Shanghai Premier Skills will be held in partnership with the Shanghai Students Activities Administration Center of the Shanghai Education Commission.
Premier Skills is also in line with the objectives of the China State General Administration of Sports and the Ministry of Education, who on June 10, 2009 jointly launched a 10-year nationwide plan to support football for teenagers through the National Youth Campus Football programme.
英格兰足球超级联赛和英国文化协会(在华东地区作为英国总领事馆文化教育处开展工作）在上海共同推出“学转英超”的培训项目。该项目创新性地将足球培训课程与发展英语技能相结合，旨在提高增进上海中小学体育教师们的足球教学知识与技能。
“学转英超”项目自2007年启动至今已在全球15个国家展开。在中国，该培训计划于2009年启动，覆盖大连、上海、北京以及香港四所城市。
此次独一无二的培训项目将于7月4日起，在东方绿洲进行为期6天的培训课程，将由英超球队雷丁足球俱乐部的社会包容项目经理保罗·休斯作为主教练进行授课。届时，来自上海城乡各区42所中小学的44位体育老师将接受此次丰富的培训课程。在培训中，他们将接受来自英超联赛的先进训练理念，包括学习领导艺术、训练技巧、健身方法、营养科学以及体育事务管理等方面的知识。整个课程的设计非常符合当下中国着眼培养学生全面发展的教育趋势。
“学转英超”项目在各地得到当地合作方的大力支持。上海站由英国文化协会与上海市教委直属单位 - 上海市学生活动管理中心共同合作举办。同时，此项目响应了中国国家体育总局和教育部于6月10日共同启动的一项为期10年的全国青少年校园足球计划以扶持青少年足球项目，培养发展青少年足球。
很多中国国家队的球员来自于上海，上海也已成为中国重要的足球人才基地之一。“学转英超”项目也将上海作为其中国地区的项目中心，届时，在项目开展的第二阶段，四个城市将分别选出五位受训的体育老师，于2010年夏天聚集上海参加更高层级的培训活动。
英超联赛首席行政官理查德·斯丘达莫尔说：
“作为英格兰足球超级联赛的发源地，英超以及我们的俱乐部长期在社区足球和教育项目上投资，并因此而享誉世界。为了增强我们在世界范围的影响力和英超联赛的成功，我们认为通过这样一种扩大足球社区的方法去实现目标，是一条完全正确的道路。”
他还说：“我们清楚的看到，在中国，人们对足球以及英格兰足球超级联赛有着浓厚的兴趣。与英国文化协会这样一个令人尊敬的机构以及罗比·厄尔这样的顶级教练合作对我们的联赛推广以及发展地方体育教师和英语教师的核心技术益处非凡。
英国文化协会主席，金诺克爵士说：
“这真是一个令人兴奋而有创造性的举措。足球冲破种族和语言的障碍来到遍布世界的每个角落的人们身边。将英国文化协会的经验及其遍布世界的工作网络与英超联赛伟大的运行模式结合在一起，我们便可以接触到不计其数的年轻人，帮助他们提高他们的在绿茵场上的技术，他们得到自我提升的同时也得以了解到其他的文化。”