{"id":212440,"date":"2026-03-16T12:32:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T12:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sbitc.org.uk\/?p=212440"},"modified":"2026-03-16T12:32:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T12:32:17","slug":"sbitcs-craig-white-named-community-captain-for-the-premier-leagues-more-than-a-game-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sbitc.org.uk\/index.php\/2026\/03\/16\/sbitcs-craig-white-named-community-captain-for-the-premier-leagues-more-than-a-game-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"SBitC\u2019s Craig White Named Community Captain for the Premier League\u2019s More Than A Game Initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sky Blues in the Community has named Craig White as their Premier League Community Captain in recognition of their commitment and contribution to the game and society.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the next two weeks, the Premier League and clubs will be celebrating \u2018More Than\u00a0A\u00a0Game\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>and highlighting the positive impact of Premier League investment into communities and clubs at every level of football.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Premier League\u00a0has\u00a0invested\u00a0\u00a31.6 billion into wider football and communities between 2022 and 2025 to support football at every level of the game across England and Wales. This world-leading funding into clubs, communities and facilities positively\u00a0impacts\u00a0and inspires millions of people.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As part of \u2018More Than\u00a0A\u00a0Game\u2019,\u00a0the League will be celebrating more than 100 Community Captains \u2013 individuals nominated by Premier League, EFL and National League clubs for their contribution to their local community via programmes funded by the Premier League.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Since Craig joined Sky Blues in the Community back in 2012, he has been a driving force behind our work to engage, inspire and support young people across our communities. Starting as our Inclusion Manager, Craig immediately brought passion, vision and unwavering dedication to ensuring that football could be a vehicle for positive change.<\/span><\/p>\n

David\u00a0Busst, Head of Community at Sky Blues in the Community, commented:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u201c<\/span><\/i><\/b>From the very beginning, he has overseen\u00a0and managed\u00a0our Premier League Kicks programme, helping it\u00a0grow\u00a0into a vital initiative that provides safe spaces, trusted\u00a0mentors\u00a0and meaningful opportunities for thousands of young people. Under Craig\u2019s leadership, the programme has not only delivered high-quality sessions but has built lasting relationships, reduced anti-social\u00a0behaviour\u00a0and created pathways for personal development,\u00a0education\u00a0and employment.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

David added:\u00a0\u201cCraig\u2019s commitment goes far beyond his job title. He leads with integrity,\u00a0compassion\u00a0and\u00a0belief in the potential of every young person he works with, showing\u00a0genuine care for the community,\u00a0embodying\u00a0everything this award\u00a0represents.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cCraig\u00a0truly deserves to be recognised as\u00a0our\u00a0Community Captain. His impact since 2012 has been profound, and\u00a0everyone here at\u00a0Sky Blues in the Community \u2014 and\u00a0I’m\u00a0sure all\u00a0the countless young people he has supported\u00a0along the way\u00a0would join me in congratulating him on this award.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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Ali Myton,\u00a0SBitC\u00a0Premier League Inspires\u00a0Project\u00a0Manager:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u201c<\/span><\/b>I have been privileged to have worked with Craig for more that 15 years. Craig is warm-hearted, fun-loving people person and a worthy Community Champion, whose ability to network, build bridges\u00a0and\u00a0partnerships with other community organisations is second to none. Craig has a community first approach with an instinctive ability to\u00a0identify\u00a0opportunities for young people, creating pathways and initiatives for those who are often seen but not heard.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ali continued to say: \u201cCraig’s\u00a0enthusiasm is contagious and he has been a joy to work with from challenging diversionary evening sessions in the community to meeting that important report deadline.\u00a0He makes everything seem that much easier when\u00a0he’s\u00a0around,\u00a0congratulations mate well deserved!\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Dianne Williams, Moat House Community Trust<\/span><\/b> – (MHCT), a community-led charity, based in a multi-cultural,10% most deprived areas in England, shared her connection with Craig: <\/strong>\u201cRepresenting SBitC, Craig approached *MHCT more than 10 years ago, recognising the opportunity for the Kicks programme to engage with our much-challenged young people. <\/span><\/i>Since that time, we have collaborated on many activities from football, basketball, netball, disability, mental health, and large events. <\/span><\/i>Summer 2018 we piloted Coventry\u2019s first holiday club with food \u2013 the largest in England, which became the model for \u2018Holiday Activity & Food\u2019 programme and the inspiration for Henley Grub Hub, which with the help of SBitC served 150 families weekly throughout COVID.<\/span><\/i>Craig is passionate, committed and always ready to go the extra mile, whatever the challenges.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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Dianne added: \u201cSo many young people have benefitted and the impact of Craig & Dave from\u00a0SBitC\u00a0has been to create an exemplary partnership record of achievement.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Helen Kirkman, Violence Reduction Partnership<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>commented:<\/span><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>I have had the privilege of working closely with Craig White through Sky Blues in the Community on\u00a0<\/span>a number of<\/span> projects. His leadership of the Premier League Kicks programme, delivered across multiple communities in Coventry each week, plays a vital role within our wider violence reduction work. Craig\u2019s commitment to partnership, consistent engagement with young people, his ability to deliver credible, high\u2011quality provision, and determination to bring youth voice into decision making, all contribute directly to creating safer spaces and stronger opportunities across the city. His work complements and strengthens our broader efforts to reduce violence and support young people to thrive. Craig is an exceptional partner, and this recognition is thoroughly deserved.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Everyone at Sky Blues in the Community congratulates Craig on being recognised as our Premier League Community Captain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sky Blues in the Community has named Craig White as their Premier League Community Captain in recognition of their commitment and contribution to the game and society.\u00a0 Over the next two weeks, the Premier League and clubs will be celebrating \u2018More Than\u00a0A\u00a0Game\u2019\u00a0and highlighting the positive impact of Premier League investment into communities and clubs at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":212449,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sbitc.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sbitc.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sbitc.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sbitc.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sbitc.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212440"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.sbitc.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":212483,"href":"https:\/\/www.sbitc.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212440\/revisions\/212483"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sbitc.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sbitc.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sbitc.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sbitc.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}