Former Coventry City youngster Dean Marshall has graduated from an FÁS FAI Youth Soccer Training Course in his native Ireland.
Marshall was released by Coventry last year and has recently signed for Sligo Rovers. He was one of 75 participants on the course at Cabra, Irish Town and Clondalkin in Dublin.
The course is designed to provide a mix of education and football development for talented young footballers in Ireland who are currently unemployed and has seen seven players who have been on the course play for the Republic Of Ireland with 19 players playing for clubs in the League Of Ireland.
Students take FETAC qualifications in health and fitness and if they display a high enough standard, they can take the ITEC Gym Instructor Diploma. With this qualification, students can then work in fitness centres, teach their own classes on a freelance basis or find employment as fitness consultants to teams.
The FAI say that "The football aspects of the programme are looked after by FAI qualified coaches. The three to four hours coaching a day, which is expert and progressive, is supplemented by a fitness programme that would be equivalent to full time training. Weekly matches and regular gym work are also part of the programme. The course participants will also take part in Kick Start 1 and 2, the first two steps on the way to becoming a qualified coach."
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