BOLTON WANDERERS players Matt Taylor and Sam Ricketts took time out of their training schedule on Tuesday afternoon to spend time with a group of high-school pupils who are taking part in a six week education programme as part of Places for Players- a Premier League project to highlight the work that Clubs do in their local community.
Challenge Club is a school programme delivered by Study@BWFC staff and Football in the Community which is offered to Year Nine students from schools in Bolton that are based in areas of social and economic deprivation.
Matt and Sam attended Challenge Club and got involved in the team building exercises with the school pupils which have been designed to help raise levels of self esteem and confidence as learners as well as creating positive attitudes towards learning and interacting with others.
Matt and Sam spent time with the pupils working on 'what makes an ideal student'- Sam's outline was drawn on a large sheet of paper and then the two players helped the pupils fill the empty outline with ideas, suggestions and drawings as to what qualities help you to make the most out of your education.
Speaking about his time spent with the Challenge Club, Matt said, "it's been great to come along today and see the work that our Club and the Premier League are promoting in our local community- you don't realise how much goes on behind the scenes away from football to help children through an important time in their lives." "Education is paramount to children and is part of everybody's upbringing- you should always aim to be the best that you can at school. I have got children and it is imperative that they go to school and I think that if you pay attention at school and are eager and willing to learn then it sets you up for life."
Sam added, "I always enjoy coming down to community projects- it's important for us as footballers to give something back to our town and meet the people and students involved that work so hard to better themselves."
Over six weeks, the students are brought to the study centre where they explore different aspects of Personal Learning and Thinking skills (PLTs) through enjoyable team building activities and classroom based lessons led by Football in the Community where they work towards gaining a Junior Football Organiser qualification.
Places for Players is a Premier League initiative which highlights to fans and the general public how Barclays Premier Clubs play an important role in their communities and encourages players to 'get their hands dirty' and take an active role in promoting what their own Club's community departments and Foundations do all year round.
