Success for Norwich City Community Sports Foundation youngster

Ryan Hunt has had a passion for football since he can first remember, and always dreamed of one day becoming a sports coach.

The youngster started out playing for his local community football club, and his talent on the pitch saw him involved with both the Community Sports Foundation’s (CSF) Boys’ Elite Player Development Centre (PDC) and Norwich City FC Academy.

In the classroom, however, Ryan struggled. Severely dyslexic, he has trouble with visual scanning, processing, and working memory. Because of this, he found it difficult to stay focussed and often got “lost” during lessons.

With GCSE’s looming, Ryan applied for the Foundation’s Football & Education programme, hoping he would obtain the grades required to gain a place.

“I was struggling badly,” explained Ryan. “I was revising pretty much every night, trying my hardest to study and pass my exams to get on to the course.”

Ryan was determined to gain more practical coaching experience; he took the time to volunteer at a number of CSF events and programmes throughout his teenage years.

“Football was something I always wanted to be involved in, I always tried hard to impress the other CSF staff and coaches just to show how much I really wanted to work there.”

Unfortunately, Ryan did not receive the grades to enrol on the Football & Education course but having proved his dedication with his volunteering, CSF offered Ryan a bespoke apprenticeship to become a support coach.

Since then, Ryan has completed his apprenticeship, and has now been offered a full-time role as a Community Sports Coach.

He has come on leaps and bounds and is developing into a really nice young man.” said CSF Coach Development Manager Laurence York. “I would like to stress how much hard work Ryan has put in to get himself to this point.”

Michelle Hunt, Ryan’s mother said: “The support and help that CSF has given Ryan has been nothing short of outstanding – right from a young age. He is doing what he loves, learning new things everyday and has achieved his goals.”

To find out more about Norwich City CSF coaching opportunities, please contact [email protected].