Work experience
“The experience was priceless.
It improved my interpersonal skills, self confidence, communication, team leading skills and gave me a new sense of responsibility.”
Mont
el Ottey
“Lionel has played and coached at a high level and this shows in his knowledge 
of football, but he is equally good with children, which I think is rare. He is easy to learn from and is the kind of coach I would want to become.”
Michael Howell
“By interacting with the younger children, I learnt new and different 
ways in which I can help them develop their football performances. Taking the responsibility of a session and meeting and greeting parents, has given me the confidence to take on more coaching outside of BiG.”
Stef Michael
“I found the course very useful and helpful, not for the opportunity given to me to be involved 
in the work experience but as a person. It has helped me to increase my level of skills such as leadership and communication. Lunch times were also good because it gave us a chance to communicate with the participants in a more fun way, as we did quizzes and other interactive sessions.”
Jamil Stewart
“During my work experience, I felt that I really learnt some important coaching 
and life skills. I think I showed good leadership skills when I helped one of the kids to practice on his shooting. I also showed good organisational skills when I helped to set out the warm-ups. Work experience really made me want to do it again and made me think about my future.”
Liam Gordon
“The BiG half term football programme was a great experience for me because I have learned lots of life skills such as 
communication, leadership, time management/planning and so much more as being a member of the coaching team. I was working with a range of different aged people and through doing this I was able to see the other side of football. I have been playing football from the age of five but I have never as part of the coaching staff. The experience was great from the first day until the very last and I would like to give a very special thanks to Lionel Best and the BiG foundation for this experience.”
Darnell Austin
BiG has now delivered six work experience schemes since starting in 2013
- Autumn Half Term Scheme 2014 Link to the Autumn Half Term 2014 scheme
- Autumn Half Term Scheme 2014 (Pictures with the workers hard at work from their Work Experience programme)
- Summer Scheme 2014 Link to the Summer 2014 scheme
- Summer Scheme 2014 (Pictures with the workers hard at work from their Work Experience programme)
- Easter Scheme 2014 Link to the Easter 2014 scheme
- Easter Scheme 2014 (Pictures with the workers hard at work from their Work Experience programme)
- Autumn Half Term Scheme 2013 Link to the Autumn Half Term 2013 scheme
- Autumn Half Term Scheme 2013 (Pictures with the workers hard at work from the second Work Experience programme)
- Summer Scheme 2013 Link to the Summer 2013 scheme
- Summer Scheme 2013 (Pictures with the workers from the first Work Experience programme)
“As an assistant, 
I was expected to carry out tasks delegated to me by the senior coach, and to be adaptable, flexible, and punctual. I needed to be willing to put in a proper shift to help all the kids get as much out of the programme as possible, not just in terms of the new skills learned, but also in developing their teamwork and appreciation of the effort of others. Lionel was always happy to listen to any concerns, and was 100% committed to ensuring that not only do the kids have a great time, but that his assistants come away from the programme having learned a lot themselves. All in all, I felt that the week I spent volunteering with Lionel was an invaluable experience, and I’d highly recommend any budding coaches out there, or even anyone simply looking to broaden their horizons, to take the opportunity to work with Lionel.”
Fabian Godfrey
“Hi, my name is Henry and I took part with Lionel and other leaders to help manage the BiG summer football programme. I felt the programme was very positive in how it helped harness 
my leadership skills with an audience of younger people. Above all, as well as being a role model to the participants, my role in the programme made me an approachable and understanding person to the younger people taking part. I gained useful organisational skills as part of the programme and by helping and giving encouragement, became a more confident individual. The BiG programme has taught me what I need to do in order to improve my assertiveness and organisation qualities even further for the future. It has been a very positive stepping stone to help me tackle similar roles in life as well as it being a very enjoyable experience for me.”
Henry Flynn
As the week went by, I gained in confidence and as a result I felt more relaxed, which helped me improve my interpersonal skills. My leadership skills have developed by speaking to a group, explaining instructions, and ensuring these were carried out. Another skill I have developed is asserting my authority; I have done this by leading sessions and showing the group that I am in charge. I also learnt the difference between being a leader and a participant and not being too competitive. Overall I enjoyed the week and would love to do this or something similar again.”
Kai Ri
it taught me different techniques / skills i didn’t even know about and also showed me how difficult coaching can be as from what i saw from that week you need a lot of confidence to be a football coach and Lionel has increased my confidence already. BiG is an amazing programme for kids to improve and understand the whole game itself. Very glad i was involved with this programme , it has showed me a lot.”
Mont
“I participated 
in the work experience opportunity for the BiG Summer 2013 football programme for 2 weeks during my summer holidays. I found it to be very beneficial as it assisted me to look at coaching from another angle, i.e. from the coaches’ point of view. I am now considering coaching as one of my future career options. I learnt a lot from Lionel. His teaching methods taught me patience and ways in which to illustrate sessions to people with different levels of skill. I would recommend his programme to anyone considering a career in coaching.”
Jordan Hart