Press release from Highline Premier FC

Highline Premier FC is pleased to announce that Alex Weaver, the club’s Director of Coaching, has been hand-selected by the English Football Association (“The FA”) as one of only sixteen (16) coaches globally to attend their prestigious inaugural FA Elite Coaching License Course.

This license is unique in world football and is the highest practical coaching award offered by The FA. The course will take place through periodic scheduled sessions in England over a period of 18 months and is a preclude to the UEFA Professional Licence, Europe’s top coaching award.

Highline Premier FC Club President Stuart Matthews said, “Highline Premier Football Club could not be more excited to have Alex Weaver participate in this very unique and exclusive opportunity. This experience will be extremely beneficial not only for Alex, but for our Club, as he is able to continue his duties with the club while advancing his education at one of the highest levels in the world, all the while bringing the knowledge he will gain through his frequent participation in this instructional program back to Highline Premier and to the youth soccer environment in Washington state. The truly elite nature of this program affirms the high standards that our Director of Coaching brings to the program.”

Coach Weaver says that he is delighted by the recognition and is excited to get started on his continued professional development through the course.

“I was informed that the new program is by invitation only so that makes it quite special with me being based over here in Seattle. I’m very excited to be a part of it”.

The Football Association describes the new course, commencing in January, as one that has been created following the FA’s World Cup 2010 review concerning player and coach development measures and is designed to further develop and progress the most talented younger teachers of the game identified from the Football Association’s UEFA A License courses conducted over the past decade.

Weaver will meet up with the instruction staff and the rest of the students in November for an introduction day at Staverton Park, Northamptonshire before commencing the course in January. The format of the course will be comprised of residential periods, one day seminars and personal projects that will “enhance and augment the role of the present day coach working with both Senior and/or Youth age players (16– 21 years) at the highest levels of the game as they move forward into the future”.

This flexible approach permits participants to continue fulfilling their soccer duties while advancing their professional development.

Weaver expects a fair amount of travelling in order to complete the course but understands its importance.

“It will mean a few more flights back home than I had planned for the next 18 months but it is simply something that I have to do. There was no question of not taking part because I am overseas. The club’s board understands the value to me professionally and to the club as well and that I will be away a bit more than usual during this period.”

Adds Matthews, “To have a Director of Coaching of this caliber on our staff, receiving such high recognition and access to the elite level of instruction worldwide, is an exceptional benefit to all our coaches and certainly all our players. We can most certainly say no other Club Director of Coaching in the state of Washington has such an opening available to them today. The knowledge Alex gains through this very unique experience will be shared with all our coaches to improve the knowledge, skills and abilities of the group as a whole.”

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be awarded The Football Association Elite Coaching License and the FA has stated that it will be a unique award in world football which offers those selected students an unrivaled opportunity to enhance their understanding of the game at the highest levels and to study and to learn from recognized national and international experts from within and outside the Football Association.

Concludes Matthews, “This professional education greatly enhances an already unique and compelling training curriculum that Alex has established at Highline Premier. While we will be challenged in dealing with Alex's periodic short-term scheduled absences that are necessary to complete this course in 2012 and 2013, we are more than willing to make any necessary accommodations to make this possible. The fine staff of coaches that Alex has compiled and trained over the past few years at Highline Premier will keep his periodic absences uneventful for our membership. The club is very excited to be opening this new chapter in our developmental expertise for our members, for our coaches and for Alex.”