#RYG HISTORY

Raise Your Game evolved from the 'Leading The Way' mentoring and leadership series which Kick It Out ran to help people aspiring to work in football to achieve qualifications as well as seek pathways into the sport.

Starting as a series of roadshows in Autumn 2012, visiting Leeds, Gravesend, Wolverhampton, Manchester, and Cobham, Raise Your Game was initially run in conjunction with the Black and Asian Coaches Association (BACA), with the likes of Danny Mills, Sean Dyche, Terry Connor, Matt Murray, Brendon Batson and Phil Brown all attending the events as mentors.

To bring the first series to a close, Kick It Out hosted the ‘Raise Your Game’ national conference in April 2013 as 200 participants were given the chance to meet and seek wisdom from leading names in the world of football including Fabrice Muamba, Clarke Carlisle, Rachel Yankey, Bradley Johnson, Marvin Sordell and Yannick Bolasie.

The national conference has continued every year since, taking place in such illustrious surroundings as TUC Centre in London, Wembley Stadium and Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.

Since its inception in 2012, the programme has helped hundreds of individuals find career pathways in roles across the game, as well as expanding to include an annual Women's Raise Your Game conference, and specific events dedicated to supporting aspiring coaches and media professionals.

In 2016/17, Premier League began supporting the Raise Your Game series and have continued to do so.