Emmanuel joined our local delivery partners Aptitude Youth three years ago after arriving in Coventry from Ghana via Italy. He says the staff and his fellow beneficiaries have become “like a second family”.
The 18-year-old is currently at college studying medical science and intends to go to university next year – but his life prospects haven’t always looked so rosy. The support he’s received from Aptitude has been crucial.
Emmanuel plays five-a-side football in a team that came together in Aptitude’s Levelling the Playing Field sessions, led by Youth Sports Mentor Greg Smith. The team has become a ‘band of brothers’. They earned promotion in the local junior leagues before graduating to the adult leagues where they won their first game 15-5 last week.
Aptitude have put them forward to study Sports Leaders qualifications and, long-term, plan to train them up for volunteer sport and youth work roles.
The impact sport can have on the lives of young people from disadvantaged communities is something Emmanuel has experienced first-hand.
“Aptitude has really helped me and the team. Greg really motivates us and I really appreciate the support we get,” he says.
“Some of my other friends go through mental health issues, some of them just hang out and do drugs. Me going to Aptitude really helps me because it gets me involved in something positive. I always ask my friends to come along because in my opinion it’s the best way to get them away from doing what they’re doing.
“I feel like when kids play football it can help get them out of gangs and other bad things that are going on. I’m really happy when I see little kids coming along to Aptitude to play football on Tuesday and Thursday nights. It really helps them.”
Greg has built up solid relationships with the boys during Aptitude’s Levelling the Playing Field sessions and Emmanuel says they all see him as a role model (despite him being a Nottingham Forest fan!).
“When we play matches, he’s always encouraging us to do better and even when we lose, he’s always saying, ‘Don’t worry, we can improve!’,” Emmanuel laughs. “He has really motivated all of us. A coach needs to have a good personality, good vibes and know how to motivate – he's definitely got all that.
“I feel like Aptitude is my second family. I’m always comfortable when I’m around everyone – Greg, Tara [Foster, Aptitude’s founder], Andrew [Hopcroft, Youth Work & Sports Coordinator] and all the lads. They’ve been really important because those guys support us in everything we do.”
Greg is relishing the chance to replicate the positive impact his sessions have had on Emmanuel with many more young people now that their Levelling the Playing Field sessions have expanded to a community session at a park in Foleshill on Thursday nights.
Over 35 children attended in each of the first two sessions, aged between 10-18. “The mix of youngsters in the community is amazing,” Greg says. “I’m really looking forward to embedding ourselves there more and building some relationships.
“I’ve been privileged to see Emmanuel and his team develop over the last three years and go on to the next phases of their life, whether that’s college, uni or work. Obviously that’s what we want as an organisation.
“They’re a pleasure to coach and hang around with. Every session we have a giggle and it’s been great watching them bond and progress from just a weekly kickabout to play competitively in the five-a-side league. Lots of people say sport is about winning, but spending time with these lads has shown that it’s about being part of a team. As individuals, each of them knows everyone’s got your back and you’ve got theirs too.”
Read more about Aptitude Youth here.