From NCS graduate to professional footballer

It’s not a common pathway for a National Citizen Service (NCS) graduate to go on and play for their local professional football team, but this is what happened to Louis Jones, 19, from Doncaster, two years after completing NCS.

On the same day Louis signed his extended contract with Doncaster Rovers, Louis met up with Holly Dennis, an NCS Graduate from Summer 2017, to share experiences of NCS and to take on the Yes/No challenge, a quick-fire Q&A game where neither player can say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

An aspiring goalkeeper for Donny, Louis has a lot to thank NCS for which has helped him more than he thought on his road to becoming a professional goalkeeper.

He said: “It helped with the challenges and overcoming my fears. In football there are a lot of decisions to be made as a goalkeeper, and decision making is key to the NCS experience”

NCS gives young people the confidence to face obstacles in life, and smash through them. It makes young people ‘Feel Unstoppable’, which is also the name of NCS’s Summer campaign encouraging young people to sign up.

Louis was asked what makes him ‘Feel Unstoppable’: “In a game when your adrenaline is pumping and you have saved a few, I feel like no one on the pitch can do anything to beat me”.

Doncaster Rovers Manager, Darren Ferguson commented that Louis is a “level-headed lad” and that “he’s shown he’s a very capable goalkeeper with a good temperament, which you need as a keeper”.

Louis is a great example of how NCS can help develop skills to steer wherever teens want their career to go. Watch the full interview between Louis and Holly here:

NCS is a government backed programme established in 2011 to help build a more cohesive, mobile and engaged society. By bringing together young people from different backgrounds for a unique shared experience, NCS helps them to become better individuals, and in turn better citizens.

Over the next 2 months footballers from the EFL will be going toe-to-toe with NCS Graduates to take on the YES/NO game and find out more about NCS.

To find out more about how footballers are supporting NCS and to get £15 off a place this Summer click here.