Salford Red Devils star Charlie Glover looks to the future with coaching apprenticeship

Glover, who made his Super League debut last month against world champions Wigan Warriors, is six months into a level 2 community coaching apprenticeship with the Salford Red Devils Foundation which sees him coach in local primary schools, as well as for the Salford University Rugby League team.

The 19-year-old from Widnes, who also received a recent call up to the Wales squad, qualifying as a result of his Welsh father, is now balancing the demands of being a professional rugby league player and a coach but is relishing the challenge.

“I love coaching and it is something I see myself doing either during my professional playing career or after it. The plan is to carry on with coaching after the apprenticeship finishes, so I have my back-up plan if the playing side doesn’t work out for any reason. Doing the apprenticeship and having the qualification gives me the option of going into the performance side or continuing to coach in the community.

The apprenticeship programme is run by national charity Coach Core who were set up as part of the legacy of the London 2012 Olympics to open opportunities for young people to forge careers in sports coaching. Over 1,000 apprentices have come through the programme in the last 12 years with the majority moving into employment or full-time education after graduating.

Less than 1% (0.7%) of current apprenticeship starts are in the sports and physical activity sector but Glover believes a sports apprenticeship is something that more young people should consider or be aware of.

He explained: “I wouldn’t have known or even thought about an apprenticeship like this at school. I was a sporty kid, so sport was always was always something I’d lean towards but when I was in Year 10 and 11 during Covid I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. Covid and lockdown didn’t really help with that uncertainty but when I heard about it I realised that sport and this apprenticeship scheme would be the right sort of thing for me.”

“The apprenticeship has helped me a lot and I love getting out into the community. It’s really improved my communications skills, personal development and understanding of the world of work and how a business is run. All this has been sparked by my passion for sport.

I’m not the most academic person so the more practical, hands-on experience of working alongside the learning really works for me. It’s the right balance.

With such a low proportion of apprenticeships starts in the sports sector, Coach Core have called on the government to invest more in sports apprenticeship to help tackle rising youth unemployment.

Coach Core Chief Executive, Gary Laybourne, said: “The sport and physical activity sector is the poor relation to other traditional sectors when it comes to apprenticeships. We know that sport has a unique appeal to young people, especially in areas like the north-west, yet it accounts for less than 1% of apprenticeships nationwide. It needs to be taken more seriously and prioritised as a career opportunity especially for those from marginalised backgrounds.”

“Whilst we can play our small part, it requires the government to work more closely with the sector as a whole to take advantage of the huge opportunity offered by sport to tackle long term youth unemployment, help drive economic activity and growth and give life changing opportunities to those young people who need them most.”

To find out more about the apprenticeship programme visit https://coachcore.org.uk