JBFC, Jamie Bradbury Football Coaching, is a business that coaches football for kids aged between 4 and 13 years old  in Colchester. The owner of this is business is Jamie Bradbury who has loved football for his whole life, he’s coached and managed it and even played in a team since he was six/seven. However, football hasn’t just been his hobby, “I have professionally worked in football for 18 years whether that was working with the national football association, at Wembley stadium, with the England football team and spending time away with them or in media and communications running websites for the national team.”

Up until recently, Jamie was “Involved as a manager and coach of a mens semi-professional football team,” but is currently taking a break from that.  At the moment, Jamie just wants to “Keep JBFC going for as long as possible,” as he enjoys and thrives giving “Kids the opportunity to play, have fun and learn the game.”

When asked why he chose to have a fun, friendly and pressure-free environment for JBFC, he responded with “The main reason being to give kids the chance to play football who might otherwise be frightened to play it in a team. As well as allowing them to have a first taste of football and be given an opportunity that they might otherwise not have taken.”

Jamie continued to explain that “It’s just fun coaching to nurture children so they can get an appreciation for being apart of a football group. It helps them build their confidence with just having fun and playing football whether they continue with us or progressing onto other teams/higher leagues.”

JBFC’s motto is ‘#love the ball, the meaning behind this is “It’s about not just kicking the ball away, as anybody can do that, but instead it’s learning to love the ball, have the ball in your possession and look after the ball. If your teams got the football then it’s harder for the other teams to score. We like players to learn to be comfortable and not worry on the ball. If someone steals it off them that’s one thing but if they can look after it, protect it, love it and keep possession of it for themselves and for their team then that’s what the game is about . 

Jamie described how it can also be seen as a “metaphor about how your family and children are the most important things in your life, just like how the ball is an important part of the sport. You love your children, you love the ball and you want to look after them and make sure you protect them”.

There’s a lot of different aspects that comes down to football and sports in general, Jamie believes, “You’ve got to make sure you use a sport to enhance your life in whatever way you can, whether that’s learning new skills, keeping fit, having friends, building relationships or helping other people grow.” 

“When I was younger I loved the skills, trying to score goals and run around but gradually as you get older you find out there’s many other aspects to the game.” For example “It’s very good for the social side of things, I’ve got friends who I’ve played football with since I was 6, 7, 8 who I’m still friends with now. I’ve also learnt a lot in terms of coaching that helps me to manage and communicate with different age groups.”

The philosophy and motto that Jamie believes in is to “Treat people how you would like to be treated yourself. It works on a football pitch as well as wherever you are in life. I believe that if your nasty to someone then maybe further down the line something nasty will happen to you. Seeing other people smile is very nice. Be kind, the best thing in the world is being kind.”