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April Smith may not be a household name just yet, but if the aspiring coach continues her upwardly mobile career path, you can guarantee she will be.

If it’s good enough for Corinne Diacre, who smashed the glass ceiling when she took charge of Clermont Foot in France’s Ligue 2, then it is good enough for Essex-born April, who has her long-term sights set on managing Southend United. 

April is from a family of die-hard Shrimpers fans and has been a season ticket holder at Roots Hall since the age of 11. Not content with simply watching from the side-lines, April is also one of a select band of 50 aspiring coaches working for her UEFA B badge as part of Betfair and Women in Football’s Fairer Game project.

So just how did April end up being selected for Fairer Game? She takes up the story:

“I’ve always loved football, and from a young age anything my brother Simon wanted to do, I wanted to, so we would often play football in the garden. Simon went on to pursue a career as a PE teacher and by 2009, I had started coaching one of my friend’s teams, which I did in a voluntary role until I was about 22, not really thinking coaching was a career path.

“I was working at the time, and although I had studied music at university ended up working as an accountant, doing a 9 – 5 job and absolutely hated it. I knew that I had to do something different, something that I really wanted to, and by chance saw an advert by a company called Youth Elite Soccer, which was English owned and American run, with camps all over the States.

“I applied, was thankfully accepted and spent five months there coaching. I worked with elite teams, kids, players who had never played before, girls, boys…basically a wide range of people. It was a brilliant experience and really focused in my mind that coaching was what I had wanted to do. I already had my Level 1 and this was the springboard for me to take my Level 2 when I returned to the UK.”

April’s stay in America took her from working at Chicago Fire to Pittsburgh, where she was coaching players from the age of four years and above.

“It was sink or swim really,” she said. “And thankfully I stayed afloat!”

When her American adventure was over – or rather her visa ran out and she returned to the UK – April didn’t have to wait long before a career opportunity came knocking.

“I would have been happy to just get a bar job to get a bit of money,” said April, “But then a friend worked at Southend, and the club had recently appointed a new CEO of the Community Trust.

"At that time the Trust had two office staff, neither of whom were female, and certainly no female coaches. I met up with the Participation Officer (in charge of relationships with schools, community schemes, holiday clubs etc) and was offered the chance to go for a trial coaching Years 1, 5 and 6 on the Friday – just eight days after I had come back from the States.

“I was offered a job as a full-time coach with the Trust the following Monday and it completed a crazy 10 days in which I had also started my Level 2 coaching as well.”

Since starting at Southend in December 2013, April has used her voice and position to help create change.

“I said we need more females and we set up a grass roots scheme that was originally for U16s squad and had 10 girls in an education programme during the first year. This exploded to eight teams in 12 months, ranging from U10s to U18s, offering courses on areas such as coaching and refereeing. A senior women’s team was also launched.

“We now have two full time coaches who are female, five female apprentice coaches, 12 girls in our Education programme and seven female office staff in roles with the Trust. That is huge progress.”

April has continued to make progress away from her day job too, and is currently halfway through her UEFA B badge course.

“I saw the Betfair application online but my initial application was rejected,” she explained. “I had also applied independently to take my B badge with the Essex FA and then got an email from them saying I had been accepted, which was great.

“Literally two days later Betfair got in contact with me because one of the coaches had dropped out and they offered me her place which was fantastic. I already had my place confirmed by Essex FA and now I had Betfair covering the £750 course fee.

“The course itself is fascinating; it’s a new format, a more relaxed approach than in previous years. You get assigned a tutor and they basically drip feed information to you, with the onus on you to then take that info, use it and apply it with the team you are coaching. The tutor comes out to assess you three or four times after which you have two-way feedback.”

April, who is one of three women on the course, is putting her coaching expertise to good use and gaining vital experience with Southend Manor, in the Essex Senior League, which has proved a win-win situation for both parties.

“It seems to be going really well,” she added. “I initially sat down with the manager and chairman and they told me how they wanted the team to play. I said that if we have X, Y and Z in the team, this is what we know about them already, and this is where I want them to be. Week to week there are ongoing conversations and clear lines of communication are essential.”

So where does April see herself once she has completed her UEFA B badge?

“I am passionate about fighting my corner and making sure that there are opportunities for girls and women in football. In 10 years’ time I really hope to be seeing real headway with a Girls Academy here, a good strong workforce with equal representation and more women coaching in both the women’s and men’s game.

“Ultimately, I’d like to manage Southend United and instead of being a manager from the side-lines, sit in the dug-out and get paid to do it!”

 

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