After initially pursuing a degree in legal studies, Moyo Arowolo discovered a passion for football and began volunteering at local clubs. Recognising the potential for a career in coaching, Moyo actively sought out opportunities to gain experience and improve his skills. Through hard work, networking, and the support of platforms like Global Sport, Moyo secured a Foundation phase coach position at Newcastle United, and in this interview he shares his journey, highlighting the specific tools and connections that supported his career journey.

Can you share a bit about your career journey in the sports industry. How you initially got started up to how you got your current coaching role at Newcastle United

I initially attended University studying legal studies and kind of fell into coaching while working in retail when a customer and I got chatting and he invited me to get involved with his grassroots team.

I fell in love with coaching from there and decided I was going to work on my badges so I can one day work at the highest level possible. Part of my plan was to expose myself to various environments to improve different skillsets. While doing my badges, opportunities came up to work at various foundations and from there my first big break within Fulham Football Club’s development centre and that progressed into pre-academy and supporting various age groups within the academy and then getting a role at Millwall Football Club as an age group coach. These experiences all then led to me being successful when I applied for my current role at Newcastle United through the Coach Inclusion and Diversity Scheme run by the Premier League.

 

What are some of the key challenges while building your coaching career in football, and how have you overcome them?

It’s not always easy to get opportunities and when you start it’s not the best financially. You have to make yourself available to do things voluntarily or take time to go and watch and learn from other coaches which means you lose out on opportunities to earn more but it pays off in the long term because the more you’re around the environment the more you learn and then opportunities to support then become more viable because people have seen you around just helping out and then become invested in your development so give you chances to lead warm-ups etc.moyo_Global Sports Performance Zone

Can you share how Global Sports helped you find and secure your coaching opportunity and how beneficial this platform has been to your job search?

Global Sports was very helpful for me as you can set Job Alerts to the kind of roles you would be interested in and you would get emails when one that matches your alert comes up. This was helpful because as someone who was always out and about busy coaching and learning I didn’t need to constantly scroll through job sites to find roles and eat up more time.

 

I hope many more people are able to get and enjoy exciting coaching opportunities like I have through Global Sports.

 


What are the most rewarding aspects of your current role and what are your future career ambitions?
moyo_Global Sports

The opportunity to help shape and develop the next generation is a privilege and one of the most rewarding aspects of my role. Being able to be one of the people in charge of creating a lifelong love for the game for the individuals we work with is so empowering. Another thing I enjoy is the ability to be around football 24/7 is a dream work environment. Over the course of my day I get to step outside at any point and see various age groups training at different times and this is great for my development.

 

What three pieces of advice would you give those looking to build their career in Coaching?

Be eager to learn. Not just from courses but from different environments, different coaches (in-house and online) and different sports/fields.

As cliché as it is to say, work hard. Throw yourself into lots of different things, courses, grassroots, extra learning opportunities (CPDs) it all pays off.

Be patient. It doesn’t just happen overnight and not everyone’s path and timeline are the same. Take the learning that’s present in every struggle on the way and use it to better yourself.

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