On LondonFA.com, we welcome a blog from a member of our team – Emily Whale, our Workforce Administrator, who is on a year-long placement with us at London FA.

Hey, my name is Emily and I am currently on my placement year here at the London FA!

I study BSc Sport and Exercise Science at Loughborough University and from a young age I have been involved and interested in several sports including football. I was eager to do a sports placement year to supplement my degree and to gain some invaluable experience before graduating and getting to know better how grassroots football is run across London. 

Researching and securing the placement

To secure my placement I independently reached out to the London FA as I have a specific interest in youth sporting development, and I was really interested in the work that the London FA do to support grassroots football across the capital! The London FA were extremely supportive in setting up a placement opportunity for me, tailored to my personal interests and also in a role where I could develop a broad skillset in a range of situations.

Once the company discussed how they could accommodate me and how I could benefit them, I put them in contact with the careers team at Loughborough where we worked together to create a brand-new year in industry placement programme!

Key knowledge and skills gained

  Since starting at the London FA I have gained a broad range of skills ranging from learning how to use FA systems such as the     Whole game System, CAS and Fulltime by affiliating clubs, working on player registration, taking payments and entering cup   fixture results. As an administrator I also have developed customer service skills such as answering queries on the phone and via   email whilst assisting with other office jobs including mail runs and data cleanses.

 My role and what I’ve learnt 

 I am an administrator as part of the Workforce Team. I assist with appointing match officials to games including women’s and   academy fixtures across London for clubs such as Millwall, AFC Wimbledon and Leyton Orient. Additionally, structured cup   competitions for affiliated clubs are run throughout the year across the city, for all ages and abilities and I assist with the   organisation and events on the day. Also, I work alongside the coach education department to plan and deliver courses including   Level 1 and Level 2 coaching, refereeing and emergency first-aid courses. As an administrator I regularly develop my customer   service and management skills by answering customer queries via our phone lines and emails. Also, I assist the finance   department with bank reconciliations, to support the tracking of the income that the company receive.

 Personal highlights

 I love working in a really friendly environment where I can get involved in aspects of work from all of the various departments.   This enables me to get a great overview of the whole company and how grassroots football is organised across London.   Additionally, it has been exciting to get involved in events outside of the office such as the Champions Cup Final, Safeguarding   Visits and also completing my Level 1 Football Coaching and FA Refereeing qualification. Last but not least, I get free lessons in how to perfect my kick up skills and as you can see, this still needs a bit of work, haha!