Leyton Orient FC transcript

Here at Leyton Orient, we have a Sporting Excellence Professional apprenticeship standard. The main aim of the program is to produce professional footballers for the football club. The knowledge, skills, and behaviors of the apprenticeship standard offer us enough flexibility to implement our ways of working as a football club, so we are not constrained by a set curriculum.

We saw it as a good return on investment and a way to recruit and train our own staff from within. We are developing a program that focuses on the holistic development of each apprentice, including well-being, transferable life skills, career planning and development, and the skills needed for the job.

I think the program is successful in creating transferable skills. Apprentices learn time management, how to work under pressure, and how to work as part of a team. They can transfer these skills into other careers if they ever need to.

The greatest impact comes from the program’s multidisciplinary approach. The boys receive not only on-the-grass training, but also a life-skills program, guidance on diet and nutrition, gym-based programs, and off-the-job training through their BTEC studies.

Some elements that first-year apprentices struggle with when they begin are workplace and life skills, including arriving on time and understanding the accountability and responsibility they have as employees. We overcome these challenges by maintaining strict, clear, and consistent performance standards. This approach works, and the apprentices develop good habits.

We believe the off-field elements are important because they provide transferable life skills and support further career development if the boys do not make it as professional footballers. Some participants have transferred those skills and now work in the academy environment in other disciplines.

Freddy is a good example of the apprenticeship program’s success, even though he did not receive a professional contract in the end. He had a difficult experience at school and had undiagnosed dyslexia. Through an assessment with our learning provider, his dyslexia was identified, and he received the appropriate support. He is a natural coach, and I think he will have a very good future in coaching.

An apprenticeship program is especially important for someone like Ethan because it has been a very positive experience and has helped him develop many skills and personal qualities that he might not have gained in mainstream education. He has truly flourished.

Apprenticeships are important to a club like Leyton Orient because they produce our future workforce and develop our own talent.