An article from our Founder:
Today marks National Mentoring Day. A day in the year to encourage and celebrate mentoring in all its forms.
On this day, I am thrilled to announce the launch of The Street Soccer Mentoring Club.
Specifically, the Street Soccer Mentoring Club will directly support the delivery of both types of programmes the Foundation runs (our Academy and School), whereby individual Supporters of ours can now volunteer to become Mentors for us and get personally involved in our Mindset coaching and Mentoring ‘Team Talk’ sessions to enable our young participants to improve the following:
- Self-Belief
- Confidence
- Resilience
- Aspirations
- Outlook
“To positively impact someone’s life – is the gift that keeps on giving” – Chelsey Baker, Founder of National Mentoring Day
Mentoring is immensely powerful and rewarding. I continue to personally benefit from mentorship and have myself provided mentoring to a number of others too. Through the Street Soccer Mentoring Club individuals will now have the opportunity to help inspire young people to set and achieve their goals and effectively manage their emotions as they are supported through our programme provision.
Mentoring relationships can be particularly powerful for children living in poverty who experience prolonged stress and adversity that can impede their cognitive, emotional, and social development. Another reason why I am pleased we now have the Mentoring Club in place.
Who has had a lasting impact in your life? Who do you credit with helping you get to where you are today? Maybe it was a teacher, an older sibling, a coach, a neighbour, a manager, or an extended family member…
The Impact of Mentoring
If you ask someone about their success, you’re likely to hear about an influential mentor. Whether it’s professional or personal, mentoring is often a catalyst for personal development and accomplishment. Regardless of the context, mentors offer steady support, hope, guidance, experience, and encouragement.
“Show me a successful individual and I’ll show you someone who had real positive influences in his or her life. I don’t care what you do for a living — if you do it well, I’m sure there was someone cheering you on or showing the way. A mentor.” – Denzel Washington
It’s no surprise that research consistently proves the positive, long-term benefits of mentoring. Particularly for youth – a healthy mentoring relationship can be critical to achieving both academic and personal goals. Studies point to increases in confidence and performance as well as decreases in anti-social behaviour in students who are mentored.
Research has also shown that a young person’s mindset influences a host of other behaviours and attitudes, and that having a ‘growth mindset’ helps young people to retain confidence, perseverance, and resilience and cultivate positive decisions, in addition to performing better in school.
We will be providing ‘Growth Mindset’ training for all those who wish to join our Mentoring Club so our Mentors have the opportunity to support young people in adopting a growth mindset because of the unique role they will play as coaches and supportive adult champions.
Messages of empowerment — “I believe in you”; “I think you have what it takes”; “it’s okay to try and fail” — motivating someone with a positive word; using the power of a smile to reverse the tone of a situation; being a source of energy that lifts someone. All help recognise and unleash a young person’s potential, which can change the trajectory of their life.
Why Should You Become a Street Soccer Mentor?
- Help someone realise their true potential. We all have unique talents and gifts. Activating the potential in someone by celebrating their talents empowers them to improve their own life, achieve their goals, and help others.
- Give back to your community. The most impactful way to improve your community is to spend time investing in it. Mentoring young people in your local community is a fantastically powerful way to invest in the next generation.
- Learn more about yourself. Meaningful relationships are a two-way street. Learn more about your strengths, weaknesses, knowledge, experience, and beliefs by sharing them with someone else.
- Change someone’s life! An intentional relationship has the power to alter a person’s life – particularly youth – for the better. You may be the only stable, positive impact in a young person’s life – alongside the Street Soccer coaching team. The ripple effect is wonderful.
- Become a better leader. Investing in the life of someone else challenges your own perspective, sharpens your interpersonal skills, and exposes you to different decision-making approaches. By becoming a Mentor it gives you the opportunity to ‘learn by doing’.
Get Involved
So on National Mentoring Day 2019, I would like to invite you, the reader, to join our Street Soccer Utd team. To become a valued Supporter of The Street Soccer Foundation. To become an official Volunteer Mentor and new member of our Street Soccer Mentoring Club.
And to ensure we deliver the best service and care possible to the young people we support, we have consulted with the European Mentoring & Coaching Council and MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership. As a result, we are delighted to be able to offer a FREE ‘Growth Mindset for Mentors’ Training programme, which explores the topic of growth mindset and provides our appointed mentors with specific strategies and language you can then use to foster growth mindset in your mentees: the young people we support through our Academy and School programmes.
Ready to Join our Team?
Please join our team. This is a chance for you to give back and support your community. And play a vital role for our Foundation. You will need to complete and return an application form, along with a safeguarding and data protection form (there is also an optional Equal Opportunities form). Kindly email us to request your form today: volunteer@streetsoccerfoundation.org.uk
Thank you. Together, Changing Lives through Football.