It goes without saying that the coaching team at NPV Football Development in Wolverhampton have the relevant safeguarding qualifications - but their participants’ safety and welfare runs far deeper than mere paperwork.
NPV’s entire philosophy is to use football as a vehicle to engage children and parents (many of whom are still very young themselves) in better, safer and healthier lifestyles, behaviour and mindsets.
Theirs is an approach based on prevention, hence boys and girls starting at their Development Centre from the age of four. Many have older brothers or sisters and young parents who themselves may be involved in things like drug use, postcode rivalries, violence or gangs or have issues with physical or mental health.
Once a child joins his football sessions, founder Joe Jackson looks upon it as an opportunity to bring the whole family under his wing, build positive relationships and improve their wellbeing and lifestyle habits. Football is the vehicle through which families can start to embrace NPV’s positive values and learn crucial life skills such as timekeeping, teamwork and resilience.
“The kid joining our Development Centre is like the key to engaging with the family,” says Joe. “While we’ve got this youngster with us, we will interact with mum and dad, nan or older siblings. Without that engagement with the first young person, we wouldn’t be able to get into that family, so our approach is quite subtle.
“Many times we’ve had a child of seven, eight or nine who has a 15-year-old brother and I know it’s only a matter of time before the parents call me to work with him. Once we’ve built this connection, the family will often tell me their boy is rolling around with a bad group or that there are problems at home and ask for my help to engage him or get him into coaching.
“We’re conscious that parents who are 21, 22 or 23 are in gangs themselves. If we don’t get in there early, the only messages those kids will receive are from their parents. Through their kids we’re able to instil our values into them, to teach them respect, teamwork and timekeeping and dissuade them from drug habits and postcode-related violence.”
With those goals in mind, much of the activity centres around building trust and community cohesion. While the juniors play football, NPV coaches have run fitness ‘boot camps’, five-a-side matches and volleyball sessions for the parents.
“We have Syrian, Polish, African and Asian communities, all kinds of ethnicities coming together and participating in those activities,” says Joe. “These people previously didn’t interact, but once we get them into this arena, we get them working, playing and getting on with each other.
“Cohesiveness is the key to keeping communities safer. When you interact with other people it builds up those relationships, then you trust people a bit more. Without that trust, lots of people become lonely or isolated.
“They don’t venture into anyone else’s arena due to barriers, whether it’s postcodes or ethnicities. We can break down those barriers. People find out that we’re far more alike than we are different.”
NPV have 300 children registered with their Development Centres and 130 boys in their academy. Their Saturday morning Levelling the Playing Field open-access sessions are attended by up to 120 children.
Some years ago, NPV’s community activity was labelled specifically as a ‘gang prevention’ programme. Their slogan now is ‘Learning Through Football’. It’s a more subtle approach, as Joe explains: “We’ve learned that whatever presents as being ‘the problem’ - gangs, violence, kids or parents smoking weed etc – isn't actually the problem. You must ask, why are they doing that?
“If a kid is smoking a lot of weed the root problem might be that they don’t possess any skillsets to find work which will add some consistency and fulfilment to their life. We can help with that.”
NPV identify 16-19-year-olds who they can train up as qualified coaches. As Joe puts it: “We take the weed out their mouth and put the whistle in!”
He adds: “It takes education, spiritual values and engagement in football to turn mindsets around. In the end, those guys became ‘gang’ leaders in the sense of leading football teams. We find ways of creating that consistency they need - consistency in rules and behaviour, timekeeping, learning to win well and lose well.
“These kids don’t have a great deal to shout about in their home lives. When they lose, they don’t tend to take it very well. It’s the same mentality on the streets; someone disses them and they stab them. Here, we teach them resilience and build up their ‘bouncebackability’. We look for positives, even after a 5-0 defeat. Nothing is ever a lost cause.
“Our philosophy is all about building those skills. It works really well. We see lads who have started out very dejected but become confident and resilient. In many cases, they have become coaches and leaders in their own right.”
NPV’s academy is important in providing an aspiration for every child in the Development Centre. Academy players have branded kit, look smart and are well organised. To qualify, behaviour and attitude are ranked in equal importance to football ability.
“From the get-go, we drive the message to parents that there are opportunities to get into our academy,” says Joe. “That’s the Holy Grail. We have links with Wolves [the local Premier League club] and there is the potential to earn a professional contract for the very best.
“We use the Development Centre to drive home messages of values and life skills; showing respect to each other and to adults, playing for a team, working together and cohesion. All of those boxes have to be ticked before they are given an opportunity in the academy. It gives the young people, parents and families a real opportunity to feel they have achieved something. That’s when you start to see improvements in their health, lifestyles and mindsets.”