Jack took part in a number of technical skill challenges and masterclasses to encourage the children to get involved in sport.
The AFCB defender recently went along to Rossmore Leisure Centre to join in with the young participants at a Premier League Kicks session.
Over the course of the session, he took part in a number of technical skill challenges, signed autographs for the children and talked about his rise to becoming a Premier League footballer. The session ended with a series of fun matches.
Why did the session take place?
This event formed part of AFC Bournemouth’s self-funding, non-profit Community Sports Trust (CST), which runs the Premier League-backed scheme locally- with more than 1,500 young people participating last season.
The scheme encourages them to play sports in the evenings and sees them benefit from healthy lifestyles, improved well-being and offers them a safe environment to enjoy themselves.
TEAM LINE-UP: AFC Bournemouth defender Jack Stacey with youngsters at the Premier League Kicks programme run by thye Cherries at Rossmore Leisure Centre, Poole
Jack said: “It’s really great to attend these sessions and I’m so glad I got involved with this programme. All of the kids were having a great time playing football and learning skills.I tried to teach them some tricks but in the end they were teaching me!”
He added: “You start off playing football just to have fun with your friends and from there anything can develop. In football, people come from all different backgrounds to come and compete and have fun.”
PL Kicks Poole is supported by Bournemouth & Poole College, an official partner of the CST and sponsors the programme in the Poole region. The College became partners with the Cherries in January 2019 and has sites at Lansdowne in Bournemouth, North Road and at Tower Park in Poole.
College Commercial Director Matt Butcher said: “Premier League Kicks is absolutely the sort of programme we want to be involved in. In the same way that we train and develop the next generation in a range of different careers, this is the next generation of football talent.”
He continued: “The kids get an awful lot out of the programme as they are developing their skills.
They’re also very attentive, I’ve been very impressed by how much they listen and focus on improving their skills. That’s always encouraging to see.”
All are invited to join the free sessions at Rossmore at the two age group times, with no need to book in advance.
Sessions take place on Thursdays from 5:30pm to 6:30pm (aged 8 to 13) and 6:30pm to 7:30pm (aged 14-19).
For further details on these sessions and all of the Premier League Kicks sessions across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, visit www.afcb.co.uk/community-sports-trust/participation
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