A FORMER Poole Town manager is offering UEFA-qualified coaching for children across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
James Ellis was interim Dolphins’ boss last season and he has worked for The FA as lead coach developer, as well as coaching AFC Bournemouth’s U13s.
He has been running his business, J.Ellis Football, since 2021.
The organisation has been going fully since 2022 and aims to support the grassroots game.
“We offer sessions for young people across Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch, really, but predominately Bournemouth,” Ellis said.
“Whether that's school sessions, so going to schools and delivering after school clubs.
“We also have our main service, which is our Friday Night Football down at Littledown. So that's for individuals that come for additional training.”
Ellis is clear that the organisation does not offer teams – as they don’t want to take them out of their grassroots sides.
Instead, their training is a supplement, working with clubs, doing training takeovers, and offering support for club coaches.
He said: “It's ultimately trying to give as many young people just a decent experience of football, because I think there's lots of young people, I know I remember when I was young, who don't have great experiences of the game, then fall out of love with football and then don't continue to do it and you lose them from the game.
“It's about giving just everyone an opportunity to come play football, have some fun, regardless of motivation, ability or anything like that, just simply to engage in the game.”
Ellis said he enjoys the balance between managing non-league football sides and coaching school children.
“You go from totally different environments in football, so obviously you've got all of the pressure, shall we say, of managing at non-league into having some fun and sort of reminding yourself, ultimately, why do people play football, that’s to have some fun,” he said.
“That's where it all starts.”
Looking into the future for the organisation, Ellis said it has two aims of offering more sessions and opportunities for school children, while also supporting volunteer coaches.
He explained they offer UEFA-qualified coaching for schoolchildren – which they otherwise wouldn’t be able to get.
On supporting volunteers, he said: “We know the challenges of grassroots football, so many people give up their time and volunteer, that it's really difficult, and they're spinning plates, and they haven't been fully supported in how they're able to put on an engaging session.”
Ellis said they’ve had a 90 per cent retention rate from people who started with them two years ago, which he is really proud of.
“Ultimately, if someone comes to a session, the parents are going to ask, did you have fun and did you learn something?” he said. “If we can hit both of those two questions, then that's a win for me, to be honest.”
For more information, visit @jellisfootball on social media, jellisfootball.co.uk or contact on 07393 592312 or info@jellisfootball.co.uk.
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