London Skolars have expanded their Community Department with the addition of Community Coach Apprentice Aston Stephenson.
The Skolars have benefitted from a partnership between the London Foundation and Coach Core. The Coach Core consortium brings together six major organisations including the London Rugby League Foundation and the MCC, to support 20 apprentices to become qualified sports coaches.
The Fulham FC Foundation, sport for social change charity Greenhouse Sports, London Youth Rowing and the West Ham United Foundation are also backing the scheme.
Coach Core is a programme funded by The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, and already operates in three other major UK cities. The Coach Core consortium not only provides an apprenticeship, it also makes available additional training in terms of coaching qualifications and Create Development courses.
Apprentices will also have the opportunity to gain invaluable experience through supporting an international Test Match at Lord’s and other major sporting events.
Aston will support Community Development Manager Matt Cuss and will be an invaluable full-time resource to help with the expanding school portfolio that the Skolars partner with. Aston joins the organisation after completing his education at Barnet & Southgate College, where he was an important member of the Rugby Academy. Aston is also a product of the Skolars Junior pathway and is looking forward to getting started in the role and having a positive effect on the development of the next batch of Skolars youngsters.
He commented ‘I’m really excited to start at Skolars and to get out into the Community, it’s evident to see the good work that Skolars are doing and I’ll certainly be looking to continue in that vein.’
Community Manager Matt Cuss who will over-see Aston’s work commented on the appointment ‘Aston is a fantastic individual who has a real passion for the club and development of Rugby League in general. He has come through our Junior system and our College Academy at Barnet & Southgate and is well known around the club. As our delivery portfolio looks to increase, it was vital that we recruited a quality person to help us deliver on this and I am extremely pleased to have someone like Aston in post and we are very fortunate to have benefited from the excellent partnership that Dan at the London Foundation has set up with Coach Core.
