The charitable arm of AFC Bournemouth professional football club – Bournemouth Community Sports Trust engaged with students from Way Valley School taking part in our Raising Aspirations mentoring programme.

The mentoring visit included a ‘Respect’ workshop followed by a football coaching session with students from Years 9, 10 and 11. Young people interested in pursuing a career in sport also participated in a ‘Sporting Career Pathways’ session later on in the day and learned  more about apprenticeship opportunities at the Bournemouth club and their Football Development Programme. There was a real ‘buzz’ around the school following this visit and feedback from the students revealed that they found it inspiring to hear about career opportunities related to the sport they love.

As a result of the visit two mentee students applied to the Football Development Programme. For one of these students, in particular, this opportunity came at an ideal time. He was feeling very despondent about his future as he has just been told that his future career plans to join the Army have to be put on hold because of an asthma attack. The news had been very difficult for the pupil to accept. As the downcast young man was  also a keen footballer and sportsman our in school Progress Mentor Anna encouraged him to participate in the Sports Trust sessions. After the sessions, Anna reported that the experience inspired a positive outlook in the mentee and he decided to apply to the Development Programme.

Read more about our Education Fund the Raising Aspirations mentoring programme is part of here.