Discovering Future Stars Through Apprenticeships

Finding talented recruits can be a difficult process, however at Future Stars Coaching, we decided to offer young people a chance through apprenticeships, and we haven’t looked back!

Future Stars Coaching is a local company working with primary schools in the South West. We support almost 40 schools in their PE curriculum and with the extra-curricular clubs through the power of sport.

Our team is varied and consists of 38 people. As a business we have an Office Manager, School Manager, Sports Coaches, Marketing Managers, Staff Development Managers, etc., meaning that we require a diverse skill set from our staff.

For the last seven years, we have taken on five apprentices each year, who complete their NVQ Level 3 qualification through our partnership with Weston College. We are keen to ensure that those who join us in September are not just here with us for a year - but we want them to know that if they can work to our high standards, we will happily find a role for them once they have finished their course.

We have worked with around 40 apprentices since we started our affiliation with Weston College, and each one has contributed to the business. They share valid ideas, have a voice that we respect and listen to, and grow into confident coaches that have a brilliant foundation thanks to Weston College’s programme.

We have many success stories from the apprenticeship programme, including one apprentice who seven years down the line is working as a member of the Senior Management Team. This former apprentice has helped us to maintain a reputation as a company that can be trusted to deliver what we say we will.

Many of our apprentices have been able to contribute ideas in CPD sessions (when asked for feedback, they are often able to tell us what doesn’t work well and what might work better) which we can implement quickly and change the coaching experience for the better due to their advice.

By regularly working with apprentices from Weston College we’re able to develop them to have high standards in sports coaching through first-hand experiences (i.e. working in schools almost immediately). They have so much experience within their first year that we feel that they are brilliant coaches to take on as full-time, permanent coaches working with Future Stars.

When looking to start our Apprenticeship program, Weston College stood out to us among the other options. Not only being local to our organisation but being able to offer the individual and professional support our apprentices need to not only complete the course but grow as a coach and a person along the way. This has been proven year after year with their support and communication, a partnership we hope to continue.

An excellent example of success from the program was one of our recent apprentices, Fern. During the apprenticeship she flourished and was on track to lead sessions within schools before the end of her apprentice year, however this was cut short due to the lockdown. This, however, didn’t stop her. She completed her course and is now head coaching in schools this year, leading sessions by herself. This is a great achievement by Fern, and she was supported throughout the journey by Weston College as they were able to keep learners on course during lockdown.

We really value the apprentice scheme at Weston College and are proud to be a partnership company with them as we feel like it offers huge value to our small business.

Matt Carpenter
Development Team Leader and Head Coach at Future Stars Coaching