Liverpool FC rising stars join girls for anti-social football scheme

by Chris Bradley. Published Thu 19 Jan 2012 14:36
Kristjan Gauti Emilsson, Raheem Sterling and Ryan McLaughlin
Kristjan Gauti Emilsson, Raheem Sterling and Ryan McLaughlin

Three rising Liverpool FC stars are supporting an football based community project in areas of high anti-social behaviour.

Raheem Sterling, Ryan McLaughlin and Kristjan Gauti Emilsson joined local girls to take part in a Kickz event presided over by community coaches from Liverpool and Everton.

Upon arriving at the sports centre the trio took part in a girls' football demonstration before each picking up a pair of pompoms to join a local dance troupe class.

Kickz is a programme which is aimed at young people within the city aged between 12 and 18 in high areas of anti-social behaviour.

It uses football and other sports as a tool to promote social inclusion and engage youngsters by using local ball parks and facilities.

LFC's Kickz Officer Forbes Duff said: "The event was all about the work we do with local girls in the community, so tonight we had two sessions on - girls' football and street cheer and dancing.

"Kickz is a joint project between Liverpool and Everton and it's the only one in the country where two Premier League clubs work together.

"It's a great opportunity for both clubs to put their rivalries to one side and put something back in the community.

"The badges of the two clubs are a big pull to get youngsters involved."

The scheme is run in conjunction with Everton and is the only Barclays Premier League community initiative in which two clubs have joined forces to work together.

For Raheem, Ryan and Kristjan, it was the first time they have taken part in the club's community activities.

Forbes believes both Liverpool and the players themselves will benefit from their involvement.

He said: "It was good for the young lads to come down and play a part in the community involvement and also for the local people to see that our younger players are interested in the community and do want to give something back.

Despite their tender years, the importance of Liverpool's community schemes was not lost on the trio.

Ryan said: "It was brilliant and it was good to see everyone smiling and having fun.

"The local community are the ones who support us and go to games so it's important to try and give something back to them."

Raheem added: "It was really good to join in and we really enjoyed it.

"It was good to get involved with the local community and try and give something back.

I'm definitely looking forward to doing more events like this in the future."





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