The majority of Premier League and numerous Football League clubs are now involved in Kickz, which offers 12-18 year olds the chance to take part in positive activity three nights a week, 48 weeks of the year. The programme is centrally managed by the Football Foundation and targets deprived areas and aims to ‘build safer, stronger communities through the development of young peoples’ potential’.
Appearing as part of the Premier League’s Creating Chances initiative, Birmingham born Aston Villa first teamer, Zat Knight, launched the club’s second project on Monday 16th February 2009. Various other local representatives were present at the launch including Lord Taylor of Warwick, an ardent supporter of Aston Villa, Kickz and patron of the Aston Villa Supporters Association.
Aston Villa and their local partners have been delivering the programme for over a year in the Aston area of the City and thanks to £45,000 of funding pledged from the Football Foundation and Urban Living,a second project based in the Lozell’s area at Georges Park and Lozell’s Recreation Ground is now commencing.
In addition to football coaching and competition, Kickz offers a range of other positive activities including other sports such as basketball and street dance, as well as music and arts workshops. Developmental and educational sessions are also run, dealing with issues such as healthy lifestyles and the dangers of getting involved in drugs and carrying weapons.
A local partnership including West Midlands Police, Birmingham City Council, Aston Sports Club, Perry Barr Constituency Sports Development Department and Lozell’s Neighbourhood Management Team support the development of Kickz, which also gives young people the chance to volunteer and give something back to their local community.
In its first year the Aston Villa Kickz project has engaged over 300 young people from the Aston area, taking part in football coaching sessions as well as participating in alternative activities such as DJing/MCing and substance misuse workshops. In 2008, Villa’s project achieved over 11,000 positive contact hours with young people and reported improving relationships between young people from a range of backgrounds. It is hoped that an additional project will continue to improve relationships between young people from different communities, by giving them an opportunity to meet regularly on positive terms.
Friendly matches against other clubs’ projects have proved successful. AVFC Kickz have already hosted a tournament with other clubs from around the country, competing as part of the ‘One Game One Community’ celebrations to help kick racism out of football.
Prime Minister Rt Hon Gordon Brown has said of Kickz: “Football clubs are perfectly placed to offer something back to some of the most marginalised members of society. Through Kickz they can help young people get involved in their community and learn self-respect, personal achievement and a sense of responsibility.”
“Kickz shows the extraordinary power of football and sport in general to reach young people and provide a route into volunteering, training, education and employment”.
Mike Wynter, Aston Villa’s Kickz Coordinator said: “This is excellent news for the community of Lozell’s and in particular the young people, to have a second Kickz project so soon after launching the Aston Project in November 2007. It’s a fantastic opportunity for young people to access the project in another part of the City, and will be a great way to bring communities together.”
Lord Taylor of Warwick ardent supporter of Aston Villa, Kickz and patron of Aston Villa Supporters Association said:
“It is easier to build a strong child, than to repair a broken man.
Kickz enables young people to develop into responsible citizens. It informs, inspires and gives them an alternative to the gang and the gun.
Crime prevention is important, but will not succeed without criminal prevention.”
The new project will run on Tuesday (5pm-8pm), Thursday evenings (5pm-8pm) at Lozells recreation ground, with the first night on Tuesday 24th February 2009. All sessions are free of charge. The project will link directly to Perry Barr Sports Development activities running on alternative evenings to Kickz affording young people opportunities to participate in sport 6 days a week.
Kickz was born out of discussions between the Metropolitan Police and Premier League who, along with the Football Foundation, are the primary national partners. The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) are also involved in order to represent the interests of other constabularies around the country. 16 other forces including West Midlands Police are now back the scheme.
