Onside Ministries is a sports charity that helps young people learn valuable life skills, by setting up football and basketball academies, primarily in the developing world. We work with local churches to set up sports camps and academies in their communities. We have helped establish sports programs in India, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda, and we now also work in the UK. Our two programs, Onsi
de Soccer and Cross Over Basketball, provide coaching, mentoring, equipment and expertise. We also provide opportunities for people to travel overseas and make a lasting difference on one of our mission trips. Onside Soccer is a key part of Onside Ministries and specialises in working with local churches, mainly in the developing world, to assist them set up football training events and academies as part of their outreach to the community and giving young people a chance to play football in a safe and encouraging environment. The coaching programme we use is tailored to allow local coaches to run training sessions professionally and in a structured format. We also run a mentorship programme in conjunction with our football program which focusses on key elements of sports coaching and looks at how these topics translate to everyday life. Professional Coaching
Onside Soccer has partnered with the 'Soccer Italian Style' Academy to design a football coaching programme tailored to the needs of the coaches we work with in the developing world. The 'Soccer Italian Style' Academy was founded in 2005 by two Italian coaches, Mirko Mazzantini and Simone Bombardieri, and is one of the most widely respected football academies in Italy. Both Mirko and Simone are professional youth coaches, with Mirko currently coaching Serie A side Fiorentina's Under 16 team and Simone coaching the Empoli Under 13 side. They have written a number of coaching books and journals and the programme they have designed for Onside means that the children and young people who come along to our training sessions receive a professional level of coaching completely free of charge.