CITC BTEC participant receives a surprise visit from City star
Thursday, 4th December 2025The City star sat down with CITC participant, Gracie, speaking about being part of the BTEC course, her plans for the future, as well as what it is like to be part of the women’s football industry.
Gracie was a part of the Under 16’s Manchester City Girls team up until January 2025, the place where she first met Miedema who actually coached Gracie once.
When a back injury forced her to take her passion for football in another direction, Gracie joined the City BTEC course as part of her drive to become a physio in the future, after being inspired by the team at City who helped her through her injury and recovery.
Reflecting on the day after meeting her favourite player, Gracie said: “It was completely unexpected. It was such a good opportunity to meet Vivianne, who is someone I really look up to.
“It’s definitely an experience I’ll remember for a long time.”
During the chat, the pair discussed the growth in women’s football over recent years, both on and off the pitch with Miedema commenting: “Women’s football is still growing so it’s really nice for girls to be able to get into football and be able to stay in it as well.”
“I think it’s amazing, what Gracie is doing now, being part of the game in whatever way possible.”
Delivered in colleges across Greater Manchester, City BTEC is a two-year education programme, which sees dedicated coaches deliver a holistic education of football, supporting those who want to develop their skills and abilities on the pitch as well as receiving classroom-based education.
Qualifications on offer at each college:
• Ashton Sixth Form College – BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Sport
• Connell Co-op College – Sports Coaching and Development BTEC Sport and Exercise Science.
• Oldham College – BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Sport and Level 2 Sports.
Sitting under the Healthy Futures pillar, the course aims to be totally inclusive, offering places to both male and female participants without trials.
In the 2024/2025 season, CITC delivered over 1814 hours of BTEC sessions, to 198 students, helping them progress in their coaching career.
If you are in year 10 and exploring your future; you can register your interest to CITC’s BTEC course here: https://tr.ee/zZvpTw
For more information on the course, visit: https://www.mancity.com/btec
Support City in the Community’s work this Christmas through Manchester City’s ‘Christmas Together’ campaign.
The new ‘Christmas Together’ campaign creates an opportunity for fans to team up with the Club to support ‘City Onside’. For every purchase a fan makes from a range of selected retail items, the Club will donate £5 to its charity*.
Manchester City is also matching any donations* made to the charity through the ‘City in the Community Prize Draw’, meaning fans can double their chances to win amazing prizes.
Entries start at £5 per ticket; supporters can enter on a one-off basis, or they can sign up to a direct debit, meaning they enter the monthly draw automatically. To take part in the prize draw, or to find out more, visit: www.mancity.com/citcprizedraw.
For more information about ‘Christmas Together’ visit www.mancity.com/ChristmasTogether.
City in the Community empowers healthier lives through football.
To find out more, visit www.mancity.com/citc or follow @citcmancity on social media.
*MCFC will donate £5 for each product** sold and will match donations made to Manchester City F.C. City in the Community Foundation (registered charity no. 1139229) during the period of 04 November 2025 to 31 December 2025 up to a maximum of £75,000 in total. The first £150,000 raised will support City in the Community’s ‘City Onside’ programme, with any additional fundraising helping to sustain the charity’s broader purpose of empowering healthier lives with city youth through football.