County Coach Development Team
Meet the FA West Midlands Coaching team
MATT JONES
In the modern world, if you cannot captivate your audience in the first 16 words or 240 characters then apparently people haven't got the time to stop & read. However, if you are intrigued & you have time, you can read a bit about me & my journey to date below. In short though, I try and help both coaches & players fall-in-love & remain-in-love with the beautiful game whilst supporting their development (& yes, that does sound very Hollywood but that is me!).
I am currently the FA Regional Coach Development Officer working across the West Midlands, with a focus on Diversity & Inclusion. Previously I was an FA County Coach Developer with a focus on supporting coach education across Shropshire, delivering Level 1, 2 & 3 / UEFA B courses as well as local CPD events. Prior to this I was fortunate enough to work as an FA Regional Coach Development Manager (5-11) in the East Midlands moving from the role of Football Development Officer at the Worcestershire FA before that.
Most importantly though, I have been & still am an active football coach 'trying to get better' for the last 24 years. From coaching soccer camps (Challenger Sports) in the USA to Football in the Community Schemes (Worcester City & Nott’m Forest) in the UK. I have had the privilege of working in the grassroots game from mini-kickers up to open age adult, with experience coaching at Player Development Centres & Centres of Excellence. I have also gained experience coaching multi-skills in primary schools, pan-disability & powerchair football as well as some futsal. Over the past 9 years I have coached specifically within the female game (inc. Aston Villa Women) and am currently coaching at the University of Worcester working with their women’s 1st Squad.
For me it is all about building experience and investing in the process.
chris lowe
Hello and thanks for taking a little time to find out more about me, Chris Lowe. I am a FA Regional Coach Development Officer working across the West Midlands, with a focus on Physical Education support and development. Previously I was the FA PE Officer in Lancashire. Prior to working for the FA, I worked in Education as a PE teacher for 16 years, culminating in a role as Director of Sport for an Academy Trust. The purpose of my role is to support and develop more coaches and teachers, more often through inspiring opportunities. As part of the FA PE Team, we aim to provide world class Coach and Teacher development to support the delivery of Physical Education, School Sport & Physical Activity, by means of a dynamic, blended learning experience.
I am still an active grassroots football coach and have been working with my son’s team for 7 years and I have loved watching the players develop both as players and people. I have also enjoyed the relationships built with both players, coaches, and families. I was also a PE teacher for 16 years where I coached many school, district, and regional sporting teams.
Our teams’ ambition is to empower coaches to fulfil their potential, to provide inspirational opportunities, and to nurture more skilful players. I love working with and supporting coaches, teachers and players building positive relationships to help them develop. I look forward to potentially meeting and working with you.
STACEY MILES
I am a W&G FA Regional Coach Development Officer for the West Midlands. My role focuses on supporting grassroots coaches in the game. Focusing on the W&G aspect to my role I lead Women’s Coach Development Groups in partnership with the County FAs to support and develop female coaches who are already coaching within the game as well as delivering workshops to support females to take their first step into coaching / volunteering roles.
I’ve worked for the FA in a full-time capacity for 7 years and well over 10 years in total including part-time FA coach development work. My previous FA roles held were as an FA Skills Team Leader which was a 5-11yrs national programme and as an FA Elite Coach Mentee. During my role as an FA Elite Coach Mentee, I had a seasonal mentee placement with England WU14 National talent camps and with England WU18.
I’ve been coaching for coming up to 18 years and I have spent 10 years coaching within the Girls England Talent Pathway within the foundation phase and youth-development phase. In addition, I held a fantastic role at Hartpury College & University as the Women’s Football & Futsal manager overseeing a multi-disciplinary team whilst being head coach of the women’s U18 squad.
So far on my coaching journey I have proudly attained my UEFA A License and my UEFA B GK License. My biggest passions are supporting the development of players and coaches.
