Meet Becca, The Huracan Foundation’s new Project Coordinator

Becca is the latest recruit at the Huracan Foundation having recently joined as our Programme Coordinator. In this Q&A we will find out what her role entails, what she is most looking forward to and just what lengths she will go to to watch a Watford F.C. match.

What does your role involve at The Huracan Foundation?

The main part of my role is supporting all of our Project Leaders to run their amazing projects at their school. All of the Project Leaders are teachers who lead school football teams and run the training sessions and the support I provide is very much guided by their individual situation and what they specifically need to encourage children to join and enjoy being part of the team. 

As the Huracan Foundation is a small charity, I also get involved in lots of different activities as and when they come up, which I really like. The team here is super committed to bringing the benefits of football to as many children and communities as possible.

What attracted you to the role at The Huracan Foundation?

So, I am a massive football fan, you might even say obsessive. I have been a Watford F.C. season ticket holder since I was nine and for my undergraduate dissertation, I wrote about how football can create community spirit and support positive change. For me, football is a universal language which can speak to individuals, clubs, cities and nations. I like to take Watford F.C. kit to the different communities that I work with – when I lived in Uganda, it was a very rural area but a local hotel did show some football matches. When I first started visiting the hotel the majority of supporters were for Manchester City but I soon convinced them to swap sides and most importantly swap channels so I could watch the Watford matches! 

What is the role of a Huracan Foundation Project Leader? 

The Project Leader has many roles but one of the most important roles is to gain the trust and support the children who attend the sessions.

We also connect the Leaders with football coaching experts to support them with their lesson planning and how best to run sessions with the children. We have a real mix of football teaching experience among our leaders, some have never touched a football before! You don’t need to be a massive football fan to work with us but you definitely need to be willing to learn!

There is also a project management part to the role which helps develop really useful skills and supports professional development. Our leaders can be involved with everything from, planning tournaments and community events, recruiting volunteers, looking for and applying for funding, budgeting and completing risk assessments.

And, one of the best parts of being a Huracan Foundation Project Leader is being part of this amazing network of passionate teachers. Right now, we have five live projects with teachers from across the globe and they get to work together and support one another. Leaders also have access to all of the teachers that have previously taken part so you can learn from their past experiences as well as have access to 1-2-1 mentoring. One of the main ways we facilitate this is through the Huracan Academy, a training network put together by previous Project Leaders and our experts. 

What have you learnt from working with the Project Leaders so far?

I learnt that we have some incredibly motivated teachers who want to do amazing things within their schools. They want to support their students to improve both personally and academically through the skills taught and learnt during their football sessions. It's just great to see how much they offer with their projects, how much they want them to continue, their plans for the future and to hear about the confidence and skills that this year has provided them personally as well.

How does the work of the Huracan Foundation impact children and communities around the world?

I believe it creates a safe space for a lot of the children to be able to switch off and just have some fun with friends. I think it's really important that kids have this opportunity and not just solely focus on their academic performance. And I also think the opportunity to learn a new sport, to develop new skills and work with peers can have a really positive impact. We also see this positivity rippling across the wider community allowing us to have an even broader impact.

What will you be working on next?

We have just closed the recruitment for the next set of Project Leaders so I can’t wait to get involved and see these new projects come to life across the globe. I am also excited to support our current Project Leaders focus on delivering the final elements of their projects after a very challenging year. 

Watching a Uganda World Cup Qualifier in Kampala