After a 26-year career with British Gas, Ignite Training tutor Wayne Goss decided to turn his passion into a full-time job by empowering people with the skills to fulfil a career in sport.
Wayne’s transition from Centrica’s senior IT management team to teaching started almost a decade ago with Middleton Cheney FC. While coaching the club’s U8s, Wayne secured his FA Level 1 and 2 coaching badges before completing the UEFA B Licence course in 2015.
He worked as a coach educator with the Football Association in Oxfordshire for five years and as an Academy Coach with Northampton Town during that period. He then joined our growing team in September 2021 to lead the delivery of our Level 4 Sports Coach apprenticeship and Step Up in Coaching adult education programme.
The role requires Wayne to work closely with apprentices across the country by supporting them in developing the required skills, knowledge and behaviours through education that is tailored to the learner’s job.
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This is delivered via our blended learning strategy, which comprises of Microsoft Teams-based weekly group lessons, one-on-one support sessions and site visits to monitor progress. Quite a change from his previous career then!
“Sport, particularly football, has always been a passion of mine,” said Wayne. “I enjoy every aspect of it from the grassroots game to development, its employment opportunities and elite level competition.
“Completing my UEFA B Licence opened the door to the career I’m working in now. What was formerly a hobby is now my profession, and I’d like to think my energy and enthusiasm for the role translates positively to the apprentices and learners I work with.
“It’s our goal to equip businesses with a strong workforce for the future by developing the skillset, knowledge and understanding of individuals enrolled onto our programmes via bespoke learning and education.
“We’re targeting people at all stages of their careers in not only sports and teaching-based roles but also marketing and content production. It’s an exciting time for apprenticeships nationally, particularly at Ignite Training following the expansion of our education portfolio.”
Approved for delivery in February 2021, our Level 4 Sports Coach apprenticeship is Wayne’s biggest area of focus at Ignite Training.
The course is suitable for new and experienced sports coaches looking to take their coaching skills to the next level. Delivery is split into three streams, so the qualification is accessible to people at all stages of their careers.
This includes a high-performance elite pathway, community coaching pathway and schools’ physical education pathway. The course’s first applicants are spread across the country, working for a variety of coaching organisations covering various sports.
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Wayne added: “The apprenticeship has a really wide appeal which is why we’ve experienced high demand in our first year of delivery.
“Apprentices combine 80% of their time developing job-specific skills in a practical environment with 20% of their working hours dedicated to off-the-job training via Ignite which is tailored to their role.
“In addition to the coaching aspect of the course, we also explore how businesses are structured and what can be done to make provisions inclusive, so services appeal to everyone. It’s about understanding elements away from the pitch to prepare learners for careers in wider management roles.
“We’ve got a variety of ages and abilities enrolled onto the programme which really showcases how versatile apprenticeships are. It’s been great working with our learners in recent months and I look forward to developing them further.”
