Academy column: A firefighter for the day

This week we took our U18s squad to Croxteth Fire Station for an experience they will never forget. One of our senior local scouts Wayne Woods works for the fire brigade and the initial idea came from a conversation he had with our Academy director Alex Inglethorpe. I then became involved and we spoke about how we could expose our players to real-life situations and what a fireman has to go through mentally and physically. It gave us an invaluable opportunity for the players to gain experience of what another job/career looks like.

 
I must thank Ged Sheridan and Michael Cotgrave who have been absolutely brilliant for us. Ged oversees the training for firefighters at Croxteth and he put together a programme of work for our U18s squad to have a realistic experience of being a firefighter. Instead of doing our education session at Rainhill on Monday, we did a more practical life-based experience at Croxteth Fire Station. The lads had a great time and the big thing for us as an Academy was to get the players thinking outside their comfort zone. Ged had the boys climbing towers and abseiling down them, using the fire hoses and putting out fires and also crawling through tight spaces in pitch darkness. It was a really good team-building event but it also gave the players a fantastic insight into the life of a firefighter. They also did a presentation for us when they lit a fire and showed us the dangers of how fire can develop and how dangerous it can be. The players also got to wear the protective clothing and helmets and there was some banter flying round, but once they got used to it reality kicked in and I have to say they applied themselves really well and did the club proud.

 
There was a real appreciation from all of us just what a fantastic job the fire service do. It was also brilliant to see how integrated the support for the club around the city is. The instructors were absolutely brilliant and I came away thinking that we are very lucky in this city and region to have people with such professionalism keeping us safe. It just makes you realise how hard it must be to get through this training and become such a skilled professional. The lads and everyone at the Academy really do hold the highest esteem for firefighters. We are going back again to Croxteth in a few weeks and we are extremely grateful for their support. Several weeks ago John Cousins and another firefighting team came to the Academy to educate the players on road safety, and again this was well received by our U21 and U18 players.
 
Last weekend, all Academy fixtures across the country were dedicated to the Premier League’s and Kick It Out’s Academy Awareness Weekend, and we showed our support during the U18s game with Stoke City and also our under U9-14 games against Everton. Kick It Out focuses on promoting the message of equality, inclusion and anti-discrimination through the Academy programme.
 
Kick It Out have been coming to the Academy for several years now and Troy Townsend, father of Tottenham and England star Andros, and Paul Mortimer are regular visitors to Kirkby. They speak to not only our U18 and U21 players, but also our schoolboys. Again, this takes players out of their comfort zones as they get the chance to speak about things they may feel uncomfortable discussing openly within a football environment. We have found these workshops inspirational and we have got so much from it. We’ve had situations where we have needed support from Kick It Out this season and the way they have helped us as a club has been absolutely brilliant.
 
Before our game against Stoke City last weekend the players wore Kick It Out t-shirts and we had the diversity boards on the pitch before the game. It was also great for us to meet up with Rishi Jain who used to work for Liverpool Football Club. Rishi is now Football League clubs development officer for Kick It Out and he does a superb job in this major role.