Spurs and Southgate College partnership give girls shot at academic and sporting success (From Haringey Independent)

Spurs and Southgate College partnership give girls shot at academic and sporting success

7:00am Monday 6th September 2010 in

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A SPORTS course offered by Southgate College and Tottenham Hotspur designed to widen the goal posts for academic access has welcomed its first class of female footballers.

The Enfield-based college first approached the premiership football club in 2009 to help them devise an academic programme that would appeal to students most at-risk of turning their backs on further education.

Now the two-year course has been extended to girls, aged between 16 and 19, under the direction of former FA Cup champion Karen Hills, to reflect the demand and rising popularity of football for women.

Ms Hills, an ex-Charlton Athletic player, joined the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation as girls and women's development officer in 2007, and is also head coach on the academic programme for girls.

She said: “If a course like this had been around when I first started playing, I would have been on it like a shot. It's taken a long time, but progress is being made in women's football. This course is an example of that.

“It engages the young girls and offers them opportunities to make a career out of their passion. I would like to see the sport grow, and while women's football will never be as big as the men's, it would be nice to see female talent getting the respect and the attention it deserves.”

Using football and the opportunity to train with top coaches at Spurs as an incentive, the course leads to a BTEC in national sport enabling young people from north and east London to get the necessary qualifications to go on to University, further training or employment.

The 38 male students who enrolled in the scheme's inaugural year achieved a 95 per cent pass rate at BTEC Level 2 and 3 helping to prove the success of the unconventional approach to education.

To stay on the course, funded by Southgate College using grants from the Learning and Skills Council, the students must be equally dedicated to their academic studies as well as the football.

Failure to complete homework or a slip in grades could result in being left out of the team in games or being banned from training.

Gary Broadhurst, Tottenham Hotspur Foundation community development manager, said: “Other football clubs offer similar schemes but I think what makes us different is that we make it clear this is not a pathway to playing for Spurs.

"The students do get the entire experience including access to all our facilities and coaches, but we want them to focus on the skills that will take them further in life. The football is simply the carrot on the stick, but it is all about getting qualifications so they can have more opportunities.

"A lot of our kids come from disadvantaged backgrounds, some through the care system, and so we charge nothing, the only thing they have to do is pay the college enrollment fee."

Girls who would like to score a place on the scheme should contact Karen Hills on 0208 365 5134 as there are still places available for this academic year.