Premier League Primary Stars workshop to inspire the next generation

Young people from across England and Wales will be able to explore how they can have a career in football with the help of next week's inspirational Virtual Club Author Day hosted by the Premier League Charitable Fund and the National Literacy Trust.

Part of the Premier League Primary Stars programme, the online workshop will feature TV presenter Kenzie Benali, Emma Juhasz, author of What Football Job Can You Do? and Dan Freedman, co-author of 50 Ways Into Football and author of the Jamie Johnson series.

The interactive event will involve workshops, challenges, videos and will also give pupils the opportunity to ask questions and find out how literacy could help them find their dream job.

Not only is the morning going to be fun and exciting, it is totally free. You can register by visiting the National Literacy Trust website.

Here, Dan talks about why your school should get involved.

What is going to happen on day?

"Hopefully it will be an inspiration for pupils to think, discuss and get excited about all the potential ways in which they could have a job which involves football.

"The idea is to make it a lively workshop, talking about the books that we've written on the subject, giving the kids a chance to have a little go at identifying which jobs would appeal to them and maybe see if they have the skills to make that part of their future.

"It will lightly introduce to all these young football fans that they can turn their passion into their career."

What will the pupils and the teachers get out of it?

"It's putting the pieces together about the opportunities that exist for the children, whether it's being a club psychologist, presenter, stadium announcer or working on the medical side.

"Hopefully for the teachers it will be a fun lesson that they can use as a jumping off point for further conversations.

"If you love something, in this case football, and can become an expert in a specific field you can do anything. An amazing artist can become a kit designer; if you have a sense of engineering, maybe you'll be an architect and design a football stadium.

"Once you start to think about it you realise that if you can become brilliant at something, football will want you.

"If you enjoy what you do, you'll never work a day in your life. It's important to show the children that there are careers within football which can fit into their aspirations of how they want their careers to unfold. 

Where did the idea for 50 Ways Into Football come from?

"I tend to write books that I needed when I was younger. I distinctly remember being 10/11 years old absolutely loving football but knowing that I wasn't going to be good enough to be on the pitch. This book didn't exist for me so this was for the younger version of ourselves out there.

"Together with an amazing sports solicitor Daniel Geey, we sat down and we said, 'what would the top 50 jobs be and can we do something that reflects all the different types of mindsets that are in the classroom?'

"We spoke to a video game designer, a football freestyler, a doctor, a translator, a bodyguard, a referee, a commentator, a groundskeeper, a pilot... we just wanted to say, 'however your mind works, if you love football there is this opportunity for you.'

"A lot of the time when people talk to young people about careers, it might be a conversation with 14/15 year olds, but if you do want to be an architect or a first-team doctor at a Premier League club, you probably need to know that is what you would like to aspire towards a little bit earlier."

Why do you want to be a part of these events?

"Personally and professionally, football has given me so many of the best parts of my life. I didn't live with my dad but we would go to football together and that's how I got to know him, through to becoming the in-house journalist with the England team and now getting the opportunity to write books.

"Every visit to a school, every session I do with Premier League Primary Stars, is so rewarding and so fulfilling. I'm speaking to the people who I feel I connect with, that I have so much in common with. It's amazing how football brings people together.

"Hopefully we'll see next week young people starting to make the connections between what we are talking about and how relevant it can be to their lives, whether it's picking up a book or thinking about the job that they might want.

"The ripple effects of what Premier League Primary Stars does could really be positive for a person, a family, a community and then a country as a whole. To be a small part of it is an absolute privilege."

How do you feel when you are taking part in Premier League Primary Stars?

"It's quite mind blowing, it's an honour, an opportunity and a responsibility. 

"If football and Premier League Primary Stars is giving you the opportunity to have a really important conversation with a young mind that is open and engaged, you have to grasp it.

"These young people are my bosses. I don't get to continue to do my brilliant job, creating books for kids all around the world, if those same kids don't like the books. So I need to understand what they're thinking about, what they're interested in."

What impact does Premier League Primary Stars have on young people and teachers?

"Greater than almost anyone is aware of really. There are major challenges, in terms of resource in the education sector, and if you ally that to how hungry and passionate kids are for football, their clubs and the cut through the clubs have in the community, the trust the community have for their clubs, it's a perfect storm of opportunity.

"Premier League Primary Stars is doing something that no other organisation could do in terms of capability and scale but also something that is so needed. I know how much teachers, schools, families and communities appreciate it.

"When you see a child go away, maybe it's after an author day with a book in their hand and with ideas and aspirations in their minds, you can see that it will positively impact the rest of their lives. It starts with one person.

"It's absolutely remarkable and the more we can tell people about it, the better for everyone because it just means we get to do more of it in the future, which will be to everyone's benefit. It's mind blowing the importance and the effect of these sessions.

What does Premier League Primary Stars mean to you?

"An amazing opportunity to be involved with and give back through an organisation that is doing all the things that I would have loved and needed when I was younger.

"It's a top-quality contribution to communities and society as a whole in a fun way through the amazing power of football."

About Premier League Primary Stars

Premier League Primary Stars is the Premier League's primary school education programme, using the appeal of football to support children to be active and develop essential life skills. It is available to every primary school in England and Wales, with over 19,000 schools engaged with the programme. More than 1.3million school sessions and events have already been delivered.

Funded by the Premier League, through the Premier League Charitable Fund, the programme has enabled over 68,000 teachers to use resources for English, PSHE, PE and Maths, to help children to be active and develop essential life skills. There are 650+ free resources available.

Currently 104 professional football club charities from the National League to the Premier League run in-classroom Premier League Primary Stars sessions in local schools, with over 18m attendances by primary school pupils.

To find out more about delivering the programme in your school, please visit plprimarystars.com.