Modern Apprenticeships for Hibs Women and Academy Players
Hibernian Community Foundation are offering Modern Apprenticeships to their Hibernian Women & Academy players in partnership with Skills for Scotland.
As part of the apprentice framework, players will work towards a SCQF Level 8 qualification in Achieving Excellence in Sports Performance which covers topics such as nutritional strategies, examining communication and focussing on the technical, tactical, physical and psychological aspects of the game.
The initiative will fund players from the Women’s 1st team and Girls’ Academy, aged 16+, and will run for 12 months over the next three years, offering a pathway to professional football for the club’s players.
Hibernian Community Foundation Development Manager Gary Hocknull said: “The women’s game in this country is growing and Hibernian continue to strive to be at the forefront of this. We had a wonderful pre-season training camp in Valencia for 10 days at the end of January and were able to present the Modern Apprenticeship Programme to the 1st team players and staff, to an enthusiastic response. The educational aspect, life skills and training for the players is so attractive and a great opportunity. We’re delighted that players have now registered their interest in enrolment.”
Grant Scott, Hibernian Ladies 1st Team Manager commented: “Hibernian has a history of developing our own players within a positive learning environment, highlighted by the recent promotion of three players from the U23’s Development Squad.”
“The addition of the Spanish pre-season trip to our calendar and the now the Modern Apprenticeship Programme can only add to this ethos and support the learning of those players.”
Patrick Harte, Director at Skills for Scotland commented, “Skills for Scotland is delighted to be involved with Hibernian Ladies in this initiative to offer Modern Apprenticeships to high-performance players in the women’s game. We are proud to be associated with such a forward-thinking club in this exciting and progressive development.”
National Training Programmes Performance and Operations Manager at Skills Development Scotland, Paul McGuiness, believes access to apprenticeships for female football players in Scotland is a significant development for the sport. He said: “Skills Development Scotland are delighted that Hibernian are offering contracts to female players and, therefore, opening up the opportunity for women to take up football apprenticeships. It sends a positive signal to young women that it’s possible to make a career out of playing football in this country.”
He continued “The apprenticeship has been developed to give apprentice football players skills for life, recognising the limit of a playing career by providing work-based learning and additional skills that will give them the tools to go on into other jobs in demand.”
