At the ripe old age of 62 and been involved in grassroots football for many years I didn’t think there was much I would learn. How wrong was I! I came away with an increased knowledge and an ability now to see and understand ND.
I look at past incidents in a different light and will now use this knowledge to push for all coaches to be equally trained.
It is a travesty that this is not mandatory.
I will add that had this been online training it simply would not have had the impact it did. The ability to see and ask questions live, but also have real life examples brought home the learning.
I served as a police officer for 33 years and have to say few courses I attended have had such an impact. Thank you again.
Excellent session. Was exceptional value for money and was worth every penny. Exceeded my expectations.
And all the content provided should be mandatory content on FA courses.
It was a very well presented and thought provoking session. It's nice to get ideas from other coaches as well who have to deal with similar situations. I am probably best described as old school so very much a new learning curve for myself.
Certainly think that some of it needs to be added into the Core Coaching qualification to help all Coaches better understand the needs that some kids may require.
Superb session, it certainly opened up my knowledge of ND and the wide number of characteristics which I can assimilate to players in my team. Thank you for the session, I will be highly recommending it to my club that managers attend future sessions.
Really great informative evening, with speaker given great insights into the subject matter. Also great to have discussions around personal experience spoken but also comments added into chat. A great way to do both. Thank you for such a great evening.
This session was incredibly informative and much more detailed than I anticipated.
It was very helpful.
Thank you for last night.
It's great to see this sort of vital information going out to football clubs.
You need more than another one-off, tick-box, solitary e-learning session that you forget about by next Saturday.
You need ongoing CPD that keeps pace with the challenges you're facing. You need practical, football-specific resources you can actually use on match days. You need a safe, moderated community where coaches, players, welfare officers and safeguarding leads can share challenges without being judged or torn down.
You need experts you can learn from. Peers you can learn with. Tools that help you evidence compliance. And support for the families you're serving so they're educated partners rather than frustrated adversaries.
You need a system. Not a course.
And here's what most providers miss entirely: You need tools for the players themselves.
The 8-12 year olds experiencing the pressure, the setbacks, the social dynamics, the sensory overload on match days. The ones who need to build confidence, manage anxiety, handle rejection, and develop resilience.
They're the ones playing the game. But they get nothing. We expect them to "toughen up," "shake it off," and "get on with it" - while simultaneously acknowledging that youth mental health is in crisis and neurodiversity support is essential.
That gap ends here.
The Academy is an ongoing support system delivered through the Skool platform, providing grassroots football clubs with continuous training, resources and peer support in neurodiversity, mental health and safeguarding.
Unlike one-off courses, we provide ongoing monthly updates, live sessions and a fiercely moderated community of peers.
FA Safeguarding courses provide essential baseline training and certification. FMHA Academy complements this with ongoing, football-specific support for safeguarding as well as neurodiversity and mental health, areas not comprehensively covered in standard safeguarding training. We focus on practical implementation, peer support, and continuous development rather than one-time certification.
The Academy is designed for all club stakeholders: coaches of all age groups, assistant coaches, welfare officers, safeguarding leads, committee members, referees and other volunteers.
With unlimited seats, we encourage whole-club participation to ensure consistent approaches across all teams and age groups.
The Parents/Carers/Guardians of your club also have access to a separate but parallel Academy, ensuring they are learning about all these important topics.
Skool is a community platform that combines course delivery, discussion forums, and resource libraries in one place.
You'll access training modules, join live sessions, download resources and connect with other clubs through a simple web interface or mobile app.
No. The Academy works on any device with internet access - computer, tablet, or smartphone.
Live sessions can be joined via web browser, and all recordings are available for those who can't attend live.
No, but you don't need to! Your club membership includes unlimited individual seats, so every volunteer can have their own login to track their personal progress, undertake training, earn certificates, dowload and access resources and participate in discussions.
Each club has a designated admin who can invite members, track participation, and download completion reports. Individual users manage their own learning journey while the club maintains oversight.
Core training modules take 2-3 hours and are revery month, so there's no pressure to join one if it doesn't fit in your schedule.
Monthly live expert sessions are 60-90 minutes with recordings available. We recommend spending a few hours per month to get full value, but you can engage at whatever level works for you.
Live sessions are typically scheduled for an hour on weekday evenings (6-7 PM start UK time) to accommodate volunteer schedules.
All sessions are recorded and available permantly within 24 hours for those who can't attend live.
Yes. You'll receive CPD certificates for completing core training modules and attending live sessions. These can be used for personal development records and demonstrating commitment to inclusive practice.
Monthly. You'll receive new practical resources (checklists, templates, guides) every month, plus monthly expert-led sessions on rotating topics.
The platform is continuously updated based on member needs and emerging best practices.
Core training covers:
Monthly topics rotate through :
Yes. Every resource and training module is tailored to grassroots football scenarios.
We cover matchday situations, training ground challenges, parent conversations, team dynamics, and age-appropriate strategies from U7s through adult football.
Sessions are led by qualified professionals including clinical psychologists, neurodiversity specialists, mental health practitioners, legal experts specialising in equality law, experienced coaches and professionals from the game.
All presenters have relevant experience in youth sports contexts.
Absolutely! The Academy is needs-led.
Members can request topics through the platform and the community chat/forum seeds the content, which ensures we're always addressing current challenges.
A parallel program offering parents monthly webinars, a moderated peer community and resources to support their children's wellbeing in football, school and beyond.
It's designed to align parent expectations with club capabilities and provide families with practical support strategies.
Yes. Your club membership includes access to invite all parents/carers/guardians to the PCG Academy at no additional cost. This helps ensure everyone is working from the same playbook.
No. PCGs have their own tailored content focusing on supporting their children. The main Academy remains a safe space for coaches and volunteers to discuss challenges openly.
You'll receive template communications and can send bulk invitations through the platform. Parents self-register using your club's unique code and manage their own participation.
Very little work for your club - we do the bulk.
The Academy provides training on reasonable adjustments, documentation templates and evidence tracking tools.
While we're not legal advisors, we help you understand your obligations and implement practical compliance measures. The platform maintains records of training and adjustments that can demonstrate your club's commitment to inclusion.
Formal FA endorsement is an option for us. More than half of England's County FAs already Partner with FHMA via The Vault.
The training complements, not replaces, mandatory FA safeguarding requirements. CPD certificates demonstrate professional development commitment.
While we can't provide legal advice, the Academy equips you with documentation practices, evidence of training and recorded reasonable adjustments that demonstrate proactive compliance efforts. We also connect you with appropriate legal resources if needed.
There are two pricing options:
Prices are below.
County FAs can join the Academy and enable EVERY club, player, welfare officer, coach, volunteer, parent/carer/guardian in their County and EVERY member of their staff to have access to The Academy.
This enables County FAs to support EVERY person in their County in safeguarding, mental health and neurodiversity for literally PENNIES per person
Any club whose County FA joins will transfer to their County FA's subscription the following month.
MindStrong FC provides mental fitness tools that coaches and parents use WITH junior players (ages 8-12) to develop confidence, resilience and emotional awareness through football.
It includes mental warm-up activities, team reflection exercises, player workbooks and parent guides - making psychological skills development a normal part of football culture.
Think of it as training mental fitness like we train physical skills.
This can be the critical period when football stops being pure joy and starts carrying pressure.
Comparisons begin. Performance anxiety emerges. Confidence is either built or broken. This is when we can lose players - not because they a love of the game, but because nobody taught them to train their mind like they train their first touch.
WellMind FC addresses this proactively, building mental fitness before crisis hits.
Yes! Once the initial 8-12 age range has launched and embedded, tools for younger players will also be introduced.
No. MindStrong FC resources are coach and parent/carer/guardian-delivered, not a separate player app or platform. This keeps safeguarding simple, ensures adult guidance and integrates mental fitness into existing training routines rather than treating it as something separate.
Activities are designed to flex across the 8-12 age range - coaches and PCGs adapt delivery to suit player maturity.
The platform includes fiercely moderated discussion forums, peer support groups and a resource library available 24/7.
Urgent questions will typically receive community responses within hours.
The Academy is an educational platform, not a clinical service. We help you understand neurodiversity and mental health in football contexts, but we cannot provide medical advice, mental health treatment, or crisis intervention.
For urgent safeguarding concerns or mental health crises, always contact appropriate emergency services or follow your club's safeguarding procedures immediately.
The Academy includes implementation guides and club-wide rollout templates.
Many clubs will start with a pilot team, then expand. The unlimited seats model means you can scale at your own pace.
We recommend putting as many people through core training as soon as possible.
The community forums allow for safe, specific scenario discussion.
The platform includes participation tracking, completion certificates, and implementation checklists. The upcoming Player Log App will provide behavioral tracking and adjustment documentation.
With more and more responsibility for safeguarding, mental health and neurodiversity support coming downstream to clubs, The Academy will provide all stakeholders with tools to better equip themselves to:
The platform generates reports showing participation rates, training completions, and resources accessed. These demonstrate your club's commitment to inclusion and professional development.
See how affordable the Academy is for your club
