Anonymous Story

Initially, a member of the youth club was socially shy and lacked the confidence to talk and engage with other peers. He also doubted himself when playing against his peers during football matches.  

However, as time went on, this young person persisted and regularly attended YMCA activities and one-to-one coaching with the team. He showed significant progress in a short period of time, developing his social skills and gaining friendships through playing with his peers. He gained confidence in both himself and his football skills, seeing a stark improvement in his self-esteem.  

This young person had only played football whilst attending YMCA youth club, where he has gained the confidence to have sought out a football club of his own. He has now began regularly training with this club, with a view to become a goalkeeper for the season.  

When asked how youth club has positively impacted his social skills, he said, “having the chance to meet new people and the people I know from school in a different and more fun environment from school helped me.”  

He commented on how the youth club is “a safe place to chill out and because it’s relaxed there’s no pressure on doing things I don’t want to. This makes me feel comfortable being here and speaking to other people.” 

The young person also explained how attending football sessions helped increase his confidence because “it was the first time I was able to increase my knowledge of the game because the one-to-one coaching was really helpful. They took time to explain things in a way I understood.” 

He also stated the way his football skills developed because he “only started to play in goal when I started coming here and so the sessions helped me understand how to play goalkeeper more.” This ranged from “when to come off my line and how to make myself big, and when it’s a good time to play out from the back”.  

Additionally, when the young person was asked about his future, he said he “wants to play at the highest level I can, but I only know a small amount of people who can do that. I want to carry on playing for teams and getting selected as the goalkeeper for a team.” 

He highlighted that even if he can’t play at the highest level he will still “enjoy playing with my friends as it’s now my favourite hobby.” 

YMCA youth club offers support and services that allow you to thrive, If you’re interested in joining our youth club, please click here to find out how.