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To mark Black History Month 2024, this special episode of The Grassroots Football Coach is dedicated to celebrating Black History Month.

Black History Month is a national celebration which aims to promote and celebrate achievements by Black people and their contributions to the British society.

First celebrated in this 1987, this year the theme is “Reclaiming Narratives,” and marks a significant shift towards recognising and correcting the narratives of Black history and culture. 

In this episode, Mark 'Rivo' Rivers & Richard Brant are joined by FA Regional Coach Development Officer for Diversity & Inclusion, Abdoullah Kheir. On the pod, Abs talks more about his experiences in the game and alongside Rivo, they discuss the opportunities now available to support coaches from diverse backgrounds. 

Music by Darren Fellerdale

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To mark Black History Month 2024, this special episode of The Grassroots Football Coach is dedicated to celebrating Black History Month.

Black History Month is a national celebration which aims to promote and celebrate achievements by Black people and their contributions to the British society.

First celebrated in this 1987, this year the theme is “Reclaiming Narratives,” and marks a significant shift towards recognising and correcting the narratives of Black history and culture. 

In this episode, Mark 'Rivo' Rivers & Richard Brant are joined by FA Regional Coach Development Officer for Diversity & Inclusion, Abdoullah Kheir. On the pod, Abs shares his journey growing up in Kingston as 1 of 5 black families, he also talks about his experiences in school and sport as a youngster.

Abs also discusses his role models growing up who include John Barnes, Mark Bright, Ian Wright and also more recently from a coaching perspective, Pete Augustine, Paul Davis and of course Mr Rivers himself!

Part 2 is released next Thursday!! 


Music by Darren Fellerdale

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In this episode, Mark 'Rivo' Rivers & Richard Brant are joined by former Reading, Newcastle United & West Ham Utd goalkeeper, Shaka Hislop. 

On the pod, Shaka talks about his early days growing up in Trinidad & Tobago before attending Howard University in the States and studying mechanical engineering. Shaka explains how, when completing a summer internship at NASA, his mentor encouraged him to try out for the local indoor team and how his opportunity at Reading FC came about.  

During his time at Reading, Shaka provides us a insight into the challenges he faced initially moving to a different country and then soon becoming the number 1 spearheading Reading to the brink of the Premier League.

Shaka also shares his time at Newcastle United under Kevin Keegan playing attacking and expansive football with the Magpies taking Manchester United all the way in the 95/96 Premier League title race. He also talks about the unique challenge vying to be number 1 at the top level.

Join us again next week for Part 2 which includes Shaka's time at West Ham, his incredible story to be apart of Trinidad & Tobago's first ever appearance at the World Cup Finals in 2006 plus hear if Shaka can overcome Rivo in the quiz! 

Music by Darren Fellerdale.

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In this episode, Mark 'Rivo' Rivers & Richard Brant are joined by Arun Brar, a grassroots coach from Berks & Bucks FA.

On the pod, Arun talks about his early memories of football, how he fell in love with the game and provides insight into his journey and some of the challenges he has faced along the way as coach from a historically underrepresented ethnic community.

Arun openly discusses some of the potential barriers to participation for Sikh families wanting to get involved in football and shares his thoughts on traditional formats of the game and how they may need to evolve to offer a truly inclusive experience for all.

He also shares witnessing his brother being racially abused during a match over 20 years ago, opens up about his own experiences of racial stereotyping in his role as a coach and discusses the impact this has had on his life and how he is committed to changing the game for the better as a result.

The team then delve deeper into his coaching career starting out as a young volunteer at cricket in his mid-teens before moving into grassroots football at age of 21. Arun also talks about his placement at QPR as part of the FA's Club Placement Programme which provides opportunities at professional clubs for coaches from underrepresented backgrounds and more recently as part of The FA Mentee Development Programme.  
 
There's also chat about Johan Cruyff, Arun's love for Jurgen Klopp & Liverpool and his memory of Michael Owen's wonder goal vs Argentina at World Cup '98.

Music by Darren Fellerdale.

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Mark 'Rivo' Rivers & Richard Brant are back with Series 8 of the award-winning podcast and this week they are joined by Vicky Farleigh.  

On the pod this week, Vicky shares her footballing journey which started out as a player before becoming a coach. Vicky talks about her life changing moment when she contracted meningitis and showing resilience which is a trait she has shown throughout her life.    

Vicky talks about her current role at Luton Town Football Club and the importance of the local community being part of the club's journey from the National League to the Premier League and the impact it has had. 

Vicky also talks about some of the barriers she has faced as a female coach, her recent role as coach of England's Walking Football Team and her previous role as Chair of Bedfordshire FA's Inclusion Advisory Group. 

Also hear about Vicky's love for Manchester City as she talks about some of her favourite past players including Shaun Wright-Phillips & Shaun Goater 


Music by Darren Fellerdale.

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Mark 'Rivo' Rivers & Richard Brant are back with Series 8 of the award-winning podcast and this week they are joined by Mariano Levisman. 

On the pod this week, Mariano talks about his coaching journey which started attending Berks & Bucks FA Level 2 course in High Wycombe all the way to his role at the time of recording at Granada CF in La Liga. 

Mariano talks about in depth about his rise from grassroots to the top including roles at 
Club Atlético Talleres & Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield in Argentina's Primera Division & Sport Club Internacional in Brazil's Serie A before moving onto Granada CF. Mariano shares the hard work he had put in including organising visits to clubs to observe coaching methods at Aston Villa & PSG to support his development. 

Mariano also talks about his experiences growing up in Argentina and how his aspirations to become a professional player changed as a teenager and how he fell in love with coaching. 

Mariano also provides us with how the opportunity came about at Granada CF with his first game being away at the Santiago Bernabeu against Real Madrid! Mariano talks about his role at the La Liga club and provides some fantastic insight into the game his Granada team played against Barcelona just 24 hours before! 

Music by Darren Fellerdale.

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Mark 'Rivo' Rivers & Richard Brant are back with Series 8 of the award-winning podcast and this week they are joined by Berks & Bucks FA's Business Support Administrator, Hans Cook. 

Each year, Rivo & Rich release a special podcast to promote and highlight Mental Health  Awareness Week and this year it takes place from 13th to 19th May, with the theme of “Movement: Moving more for our mental health”.

On the pod this week, Hans joined Rivo & Rich to talk about his own Mental Health journey and shares insight into his own coping mechanisms. Hans also shares the importance that football plays in his life and his role at Berks & Bucks FA supporting Mental Health. Hans also talks about his Instagram page which he started during the pandemic reviewing Coffee which has turned into producing his own coffee blend, CapNChino. Don't forget to check out Hans' podcast, Flat Whites & Insights.

To find out more about Mental Heath Awareness Week visit the Mental Health Foundation page.  


Music by Darren Fellerdale.

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Mark 'Rivo' Rivers & Richard Brant are back with Series 7 of the award-winning podcast and this week they are joined by Berks & Bucks FA's Football Development Officer, Alex Pratt.  

On the pod this week, Alex talks about his journey which started playing at U9 and becoming secretary of his local grassroots Club at the age of just 17. Alex talks in detail about his passion for goalkeeping and him & Rivo share a funny story from a GK course they were on together a few years ago.

Alex talks about the pressures he and other young people face when leaving school and the added pressure to make life-changing decisions about their careers at such an early age. Alex opens up on his experience at university in particular during the Covid pandemic and how upon leaving university, he was able to be in a job which he is passionate about and making a difference. 

Alex also talks about the Women's World Cup and the legacy the competition will have for aspiring female players both locally and across the globe.   Also find out if Alex can end Rivo's winning streak in the end of the pod quiz.
 
Music and post-production by Darren Fellerdale.

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Mark 'Rivo' Rivers & Richard Brant are back with Series 7 of the award-winning podcast and this weeks guest is FA Coach Developer & Mentor, Chris Berry.  

This week, Football Development Officer Alex Pratt is guest co-host alongside Rich as Rivo is away on holiday in Portugal. 

On the pod, Chris shares his journey from his experience starting playing a year up at 11 years old up to setting up a new Club with his friends named Harchester Hawks (can you guess why it was called Harchester......). 

Chris talks about being a 4th generation Reading FC fan and how his career coaching a variety of sports led him to his current role at the Community Trust at Reading FC. Chris talks about the different roles he's has had at the Trust plus he shares his thoughts on the benefits of smaller formats of the game in particular at the younger age group in the Foundation phase. 

Chris also talks about his role as Developer and Mentor at The FA plus his role in supporting the growth of the BBFA Female Coaches Community over the past 18 months.  Also find out if Chris can beat guest co-host Alex in the end of the pod quiz. 
 
Music and post-production by Darren Fellerdale.

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Mark 'Rivo' Rivers & Richard Brant are back with Series 7 of the award-winning podcast and this weeks guest is Premier League Referee Graham Scott. 

This week, Referee Development Officer Sam Myatt leads a Referee Takeover of the podcast in Rivo's absence alongside Rich. 

On the pod, Graham shares his journey from his playing days as Abingdon Town and his memories of playing in the FA Youth Cup. Graham talks about how an injury forced Graham to stop playing and why he took up refereeing at the age of 27. 

Graham talks about his love for refereeing and how he made the journey through the pathway and become a Premier League Referee.  

Graham also talks about VAR, the best goal he has witnessed and gives us an insight into what a normal week as a Premier League Referee looks like. Also find out if Graham can overcome Sam in the end of the pod quiz plus hear what type of biscuit is Graham's favourite! 
 
Music and post-production by Darren Fellerdale.