Tuesday, 4 April 2017
COACHS BUILD FIRM FOUNDATIONS
By Lara Williams
A football coaching initiative has been encouraging youngsters to score goals and get good grades.
Teenagers from Lewisham and Lambeth have been training with a scheme which aims to steer them away from a life of crime and motivate them to try harder in school.
Foundation 47, originally named Bellingham Football Club, has been working on projects with schools and estates, aimed at children between the ages of 10-16.
Recent projects include an inclusion programme with Sedgehill School and a four-week summer project on Cowley Estate, where founder and coach Michael Ibitoye grew up.
Mr Ibitoye, 26, left his full-time job to commit to providing better opportunities for youngsters in Lewisham, after experiencing missed opportunities and depression as a young man.
The scheme has already seen positive changes in some of the boys.
“When I was younger, I wanted to be a footballer. I put all my eggs in one basket and when it didn’t work out, I went into a deep depression. I didn’t want others to go through the same so I started the project.”
Workshops and talks given by professional footballers and other speakers are put on for youths, mostly boys, with a focus on showing the wealth of opportunities available to them, and the hard work it takes to get there.
Michael said: “When I was growing up every lad wanted to be a footballer and it hasn’t changed, kids aren’t really saying ‘I really want to be an accountant’. But not everyone makes it and when they don’t they can get angry and frustrated.
“It’s about getting that balance, they can play football but they still have to come to school and do their homework. They listen to us because they know we’re coming from a place of experience.”
Many of the youngsters involved have come close to getting in serious trouble.
“One of the the guys, around 13 or 14 years old, was caught carrying a serious weapon at school, so that was a big safeguarding issue. I’ve had kids turn up to a session in a bulletproof vest in the middle of summer, which was a first. They told me that they’ve got issues with people and if they get seen, they might be shot.”
However, the scheme has already seen positive changes in some of the boys.
“Two boys at Sedgehill School have completed changed. When we started they would skip school on Fridays because in their minds they didn’t have to come in. But by the end of the first year of sessions, their attendance was much higher than anyone else’s and they’ve now been sponsored to do an FA coaching course.”
Michael is a better candidate than any to coach troubled teenagers.
Michael is a better candidate than any to coach troubled teenagers. He grew up on a council estate in Brixton but attended a private school in Battersea after being pushed forward a year in primary school.
He said: “I had to hide my blazer on the way home from school. But it makes me the perfect person to come in, I understand what the teachers need from the students but also where the kids are coming from. Football is about team work, but equally one of the biggest things is discipline, doing what you’re told when you’re told to do it.
Growing up on a council estate has given him first-hand experience of the reasons behind youth crime.
“Crime is too easy. I remember playing video games at a friend’s house and he pulled out a bag from under the bed with four guns in it. They say the devil males work of idle hands and it’s true, as youngsters when we were bored someone would suggest a naughty idea. Sport or some kind of extra-curricular activity is important. If they have my training to go to they can’t go out, and by the time they’ve finished they’re tired and don’t want to go out and cause trouble.”
The youths love it, they want more.
Funding from Lewisham council, the London FA and Bellingham Assembly has helped Michael kick-start his vision. The foundation is currently sponsoring Goldsmith’s Women’s Football Club, and is looking into building partnerships with similar projects, including Cr8 football, in Croydon.
“We want to get get working with more youths. I’m talking to primary schools at the moment, by the time many children get to secondary school they’re already hardened. If they’re getting into trouble at ages 13 or 14 then the problems will have already started, so we want to get to them while they’re still young.
“The youths love it, they want more.”