LOCAL FOOTBALLER LAUNCHES OWN BUSINESS IN A BID TO BRING SPORT TO THE NEXT GENERATION IN OXFORDSHIRE AND BUCKINGHAMSHIRE - 18th Jul 2011
A 24-year-old self confessed sports fanatic has left his office job to take on a new challenge – to make sport his business in a bid to inspire today’s children with a passion for fitness.
Matt Blenford, from Bicester near Oxford, made the break to turn his passion for sport into a career and launch a business under the wing of the UK’s biggest coaching company, Premier Sport - and is now offering free sports taster sessions to schools across the region.
Matt, a Sports Studies and Business Management degree graduate from the University of Northampton, is a former pupil of Bicester Community College Secondary School and has been working as a training representative in the retail sector, patiently waiting for that step into the industry he loves.
He plays Semi Professional football for Long Buckby F.C, who compete in the United Counties Premier League, and will run franchises on behalf of an investor in both Oxfordshire and Buckingham, including the Bicester, Kidlington and Witney, offering PE coaching both in and out of school hours as well as holiday camps, breakfast, lunch and after school clubs with his team of coaches in up to 21 different sports under the Premier Sport umbrella
Matt is already qualified to coach football, basketball, cricket, racket sports, athletics, dodgeball and gymnastics, and has already undergone intensive training with Premier Sport.
“Sport is a massive part of my life, as well as millions of people across the UK. It is vitally important children start early and learn the fundamentals of sport at the earliest stage possible. Starting early and moving into grassroots level within all sports is the key to success at the elite level.
A lot of people, as well as myself feel that the failures we as a nation experience on the International stage boil down to the poor experiences that our nation offer throughout our educational system. In my opinion, Premier Sport can help to void the gap! As well as that, it is surely within everyone’s best interest for our nation’s youth to be healthy, and help us to avoid being labelled with such negative statistics and obesity rates.”
Matt already delivers five after school clubs a week at Roundwood Primary School, Thornborough Infant School and St. James & St. Johns Primary School, all in Buckingham, and is also inviting schools in the area to sign up for a free sports taster session.