London Elite Sports & Football Academy

We are a youth and sports organisations who seek to improve the welfare and wellbeing of all children and young people through organised football/sport training and competitive games, education and social activities of all kinds.Clasford Stirling MBE was invited to establish a youth football team on the Broadwater Farm estate in Tottenham in 1979, which he duly did and called it Broadwater Farm United. Due to his personal commitment and consistency, two key ingredients for success, that first ‘team’ eventually turned into Broadwater Sports & Football Academy, which is still going but with a rebranding to it’s new name, London Elite Sports & Football Academy, which was founded and established by his son, Jude Stirling. As a youth and community advocacy organisation, it has been incredibly successful, supporting several generations of young people against all the odds, to reach their full potential. Clasfords example of care, discipline and clear mentorship as a strong role model, has attracted other skilled volunteer coaches and workers around him, who are also simply motivated to help young people and their parents to understand the transforming principles of great teamwork and cooperation. London Elite are now key providers within Haringey of youth provision projects that target those young people who are struggling against the adverse effects of poverty and low societal expectation, that can often lead young people into anti-social behaviours that are not good for either their own health and wellbeing, or those around them, especially parents who do not know how to overcome the powerful influences of peer pressure exerted upon their children. London Elite have established a model programme to address this vulnerability of young people, called ‘Off The Street, Less Heat’ aimed at providing a safe and secure ‘Drop-In’ place with a range of social and sport activities during late evening hours, in order to offer them alternative activities that are good for them and enhance their skills through training, education and mentoring. Equality has always been at the very heart of all that guides the way forward for Clasford and his team, with a vision of equal access to not only sport, but also education and all other facilities that are available to young people. London Elite, with the funding support of Nike, are now leaders in developing young women’s football, from the age of 10 and up, with our first team entry into a league, happening this season, which is very exciting for all concerned. London Elite exists and operates within a very diverse community and have the privilege of hosting and training children from many ethnic backgrounds, without discrimination, so all of their work is underpinned by the example and policies of the Football Association, especially in terms of promoting the anti-racist principles of their Respect agenda, which apply to not only the coaches, but to players, parents and spectators alike. London Elite’s vision for going forward, is to continue it’s good work and set a strong legacy plan for it’s continuation on into the future, laying the foundation of good strong ‘best practices’, so that anyone who joins the staff will know exactly what their role and aims are and how to achieve them in the best interests of the young people that they are supporting. There is also an idea to extend the vision to develop a one-stop shop for promoting job opportunities, interview training and entrepreneurial development. Partnerships are key to this future success and their collaborations with local schools, Nike, the London borough of Haringey, Spurs and many others, show just what can be achieved once the will and resources are put to good responsible use. London Elite is governed as a non-profit company limited by guarantee, meaning that there are no profits to be taken out of any funding or income that the management team receive, with any excess of income over costs, having to be ploughed straight back into the work of the team in helping young people. Continued long-term and stable funding is hard to come by now, especially with the financial hardships caused by the effects of the pandemic and so any help is much appreciated. London Elite are always seeking to put any funding opportunities to good use for our young people, so if you feel in alignment with our basic aims and objectives, please feel free to contact us at any time with ideas or concrete offers that you may be aware of. We look forward to hearing from you soon!