about Wo Sports

WO Sports was formed in 2015 by Olawale (Wale) Ojelabi. At WO Sports we aim to promote healthy living and help to build better lives through sport, nutrition and diet. We are one of the leading clubs in the sport social responsibility programme. By being part of this programme, WO Sports uses the
power of sport to deliver inspiring education, health and football programmes within our community. We believe that the power of football can be used to support local communities as well
as individuals.

We aim to promote healthy living and to build better lives by pioneering innovative, engaging and inspiring programmes for hard to reach and disadvantaged young people within our community. Using the significant expertise of our staff, the exciting and engaging WO Sports brand, alongside our committed team, our programmes consistently achieve successful outcomes.

On top of our outstanding football development and health programmes, WO Sports works on a broad range of initiatives focusing on education, physical fitness, social deprivation and much more. One of our primary objectives at the club is to ensure that children have fun in sport and achieve their potential in a safe and supportive environment.

All WO Sports coaches have an in-date DBS check and have completed all of the required safeguarding courses in line with Football Association
regulations (see our Safeguarding Page for further information). We are affiliated to London FA and this season (2020/21) we are running nine youth teams:
3 x U8s teams
2 x U9s teams
2 x U10s teams
1 x U11 team
1 x U13 team

All of our youth teams play at Hackney Marshes in the Hackney Marshes Saturday Youth League which is an FA sanctioned league. In addition to this, we run several development groups, which train every Saturday morning from 10 am-12 pm at Leyton Sixth Form College.

A little bit about me

My football career started at an early age, first moving to Greece where I played professionally and then relocating to the UK where I played for several football league clubs. This experience gave me key tools which helped me to develop my coaching and fitness training, both on and off the football field.

Since retiring from playing, I decided I wanted to share my passion for playing football with others. To achieve that, I’ve gained several professional qualifications, both in football coaching and fitness training. I am a UEFA B Licensed coach with a background in sports science. I worked as a coach for a premier league club for seven years where I was voted coach of the year in 2008. In November 2013, I had an article published in ‘Fulltime’ magazine, which was about inspiring the next generation through the power of football.

My coaching career has given me valuable experience in developing athletes physically, technically, psychologically and socially. During this time, I combined my football coaching with management. I became Player/Manager in 2009 which made me one of the youngest Manager's in the UK at 27 years old. Under my guidance, Waltham Forest FC ensured their safety in the football league in 2009 with five games left. The success continued at the club. The team enjoyed fantastic FA Cup runs for two consecutive seasons(2011-2012 and 2012-2013) and reached the 2nd qualifying rounds and made some giant killings along the way. Such success enabled some young talented players to move to bigger and better clubs within the football league structure.

Furthermore, I have extensive experience with youth football having taught PE in Primary, Secondary Schools and Colleges across West London, South London, Surrey, Guildford, Hemel Hempstead and Hackney. Our sessions are designed to be age-appropriate and to motivate every participant.

As a certified Nutritional Therapist (and a member of the International Institute of complimentary Therapist IICT), I use my nutritional expertise to deliver healthy eating and healthy lifestyle programmes in schools to help tackle child obesity. The programme has been a great success and lots of people have signed up to our Nutritional Deficiencies Assessment as well as our Antioxidant Capacity Test. These tests have transformed lives and have helped to improve participants physical and emotional wellbeing. Our Weight loss and Weight gain programmes also come highly recommended.