Douglas Smith from Ibanda could soon rub shoulders with some of the world’s football celebrities. The little known football coach is one of the two short-listed applicants for the WorldRemit Future Stars football coaching programme from Uganda.
The other coach shortlisted is Gulu’s Faruk Musema, an inclusive sports coach for children with disabilities at GDPU (Gulu Disabled Persons Union).
Douglas Smith is the founder and coach at Ibanda Young Stars Soccer Academy.
The Future Stars programme was launched in August to offer local coaches from across Africa the chance to attend an exclusive new training camp with Arsenal’s top Soccer Schools coaches in London.
The programme is a new initiative set up by WorldRemit, the official online money transfer partner of Arsenal Football Club, to recognise and reward the valuable contribution that youth coaches make to the communities they serve.
The programme received around 700 applications in just over one week from across Africa. A shortlist of 25 coaches has been selected by a judging panel of representatives from Arsenal and WorldRemit. In recognition of their hard work, the 25 shortlisted coaches will receive official Arsenal shirts for their youth team.
The two shortlisted coaches from Kampala and Gulu expressed their intentions to use football to have a positive impact on their community, such as generating exposure for the teams in their villages and raising the standard of coaching for children with disabilities.
From the 25 shortlisted applicants, five finalists chosen by the judges will go through to a public vote, where they will compete for the chance to train with Arsenal Soccer Schools coaches. The five finalists will be featured on the futurestars.worldremit.com website and voting will open in the last week of September.
WorldRemit will sponsor the successful applicant’s travel to London in October to attend the Future Stars camp. The applicant will also be equipped with coaching skills which they can take back to build a lasting legacy of coaching excellence in their country.
Sharon Kinyanjui, Head of East and Central Africa at WorldRemit said: “The high volume of entries we received from Uganda is a clear indication of the importance of youth football coaching in the community and the vital role of sport in the community. We see the strength of the entries from Uganda as a very promising sign for the country’s future.
“Like these coaches, our customers are helping to build a better future for others. Our goal is to make it easier for them to do so. Following their example, we hope to use opportunities like our partnership with Arsenal to have a positive impact on communities across the globe.”