‘IT IS BRILLIANT WATCHING THEIR FACES LIGHT UP’
City stars hoping to inspire pupils on visit
STOKE City midfielder Ryan Woods recalled the day a football star came into his school during a meet-andgreet with children.
The 25-year-old was an aspiring athlete when Manchester United rookie Kris Taylor – who went on to play for Port Vale – dropped in.
Now he too has helped inspire the next generation of sportsmen and women as he paid a visit to Hassell County Primary School in Newcastle.
Staffordshire lad Ryan, who comes from Norton Canes in the south of the county, said: “It’s brilliant, I’ve always said that when you come in and see the young kids their faces light up. That’s exactly how I was when I was when I used to see professional athletes come into school.
“I remember Kris Taylor, who went onto play for Port Vale, came into our school when I was a kid and he was a local lad on Manchester United’s books. It’s nice if we can have that same effect.
“It’s nice to be able to give a little bit back because I’ll always remember that feeling.”
Ryan was joined by teammates Bojan, Jakob Haugaard, Moritz Bauer, and Olivia Dixon from Stoke City Ladies.
They met with pupils and answered questions, before sitting back to watch a dance the children had prepared as part of their work with Stoke City under the Premier League Primary Stars initiative.
Headteacher Kirsty Broome said: “We work with Stoke City a lot.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for our pupils to meet the players. We had 300 very excited children and it is great for them to be able to meet with some of the players and have the opportunity to talk to them.
“We also had some of our Year 6 children doing a dance which they have worked really hard on, which is linked to Primary Stars and is about getting children to be active in the classrom.”
Premier League Stars is a national programme linking football clubs like Stoke with schools, to encourage and inspire children to take more exercise, as well as helping them with other lessons such as maths and English.
Deb O’neill, Stoke City’s school’s workforce development officer, said: “It’s about using the power of football clubs to create opportunities for primary age children. We have been helping to improve the quality of PE, by upskilling teachers, but we have also been active in subjects like maths and English, promoting the values of Primary Stars, which is to be ambitious, to be concerted – teamwork – and to be inspiring.
“We have got a Pottermus Challenge which is to get children to be active every day. They will do different activities testing agility and balance, and they have to try to beat their best every day.”
Pupil Jake Gratton, aged 11, from Newcastle – one of the school’s Premier League Primary Stars