by Harry Brown
Founded by a group of former English professional footballers who are now coaches, Prospect Football is helping develop young footballers in Estonia while creating opportunities for local coaches to gain valuable experience.
Through its camps and coaching programmes, the organisation is combining English coaching methods with Estonian football, aiming to inspire the next generation of players and strengthen the game’s development across the country.
Founded in 2024 by former professional footballer Jamie-Sendles White and Estonian Kristjan Raudsepp. We spoke to Kristjan about how the organisation was set up.
‘I first started Prospect Football because as a parent I saw that the football holiday camps were too passive and energy was low. We wanted to create a camp where children have coaches who are involved in the sessions, engaged in the sessions and are mostly ex players that the children can look up to.’
Prospect Football began as just a football camp for kids, where coaches would do a session and a camp and then leave. However this all changed when former footballer Jamie Sendles-White joined the camp as a partner and changed the way it was run.
‘Jamie brought in more ex-pro players, and they have seen what youngsters in Estonia have to offer. For example Josh Staunton, who has been in our camp a few times is now looking to work with Estonian clubs to create a link for English players to move here after academy football, as well as the other way round.’
As it is only two years old, the long term vision for the project is still very fresh. ‘We want to keep the camps running, and get more and more coaches involved which means we can get more and more players involved.’
Kristjan also spoke about how he wants to create a pathway for Estonian footballers. ‘What would make me happy most, is that we created some players that had the opportunity to go abroad or we had coaches who end up working and helping within Estonian football.’
The camps are advertised by Kristjan and Jamie, but Jamie being the ex-pro with connections, he finds coaches who are willing to support the organisation.
Some of the ex-players who have come in to help with the project are, former Scotland striker Ross McCormack, former Premier League player Barry Douglas, and ex Liverpool centre back Steven Caulker. The camps work alongside one Estonian club thus far, Tallinna Kalev.
‘We had coaches from the UK and they were assisted by Tallinna Kalev youth coaches and through the club they helped us and our players get used to the natural grass stadium at the Kalev Stadium.’
Kristjan is hoping the impact from the project can elevate the youth of Estonia, and give kids the opportunity to achieve their dreams. ‘We want to give them core memories and raise their love towards the game and keep motivating them towards their dreams. We do not compete to take anything away from clubs and local coaches, we want to give the kids a different kind of coaching culture.’
There are many things to excited about when it comes Prospect Football Estonia and the future is definitely something to be enthusiastic about. ‘We want to start a camp that is concentrated towards older players. We also want to bring in an ex professional woman footballer, to give the girls the same type of experience.’
As Prospect Football continues to grow, its vision remains clear; use the experience of English coaches to inspire the next generation of Estonian footballers. With ambitious future plans, the organisation is aiming to create opportunities that extend far beyond a football pitch.
For those three or four days that a child is with the camps, every single one will feel welcomed they can have open interactions with the coaches and everyone gets the attention and energy they deserve. For the coaches behind the project, success is measured not only by developing better footballers, but by inspiring a lifelong passion for the game.
