The Nike Player Panel offers an award for small community based sports projects, led by outstanding young people in each region, with an emphasis on rewarding volunteers. A panel of players will select the best projects for each region.
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4 Regions (North West, North East, Midlands, South)
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4 Nike Players to become Football Foundation Ambassadors and make up the Players Panel
The winning project in each area will receive an award of £10,000.
The Nike Player Panel is funded by Nike’s sustainability program Nike Reuse-A-Shoe that collects post and pre consumer end of life sports shoes and turns them into Nike Grind which could be incorporated into sport surfaces.
The Players
North West – Owen Hargreaves, Manchester United FC
North East – Steven Taylor, Newcastle United FC
Midlands – Gabby Agbonlahor, Aston Villa FC
South – Theo Walcott, Arsenal FC
Chair of the Panel
Paul Thorogood, Football Foundation Chief Executive
Criteria
Projects should be submitted by Under 25’s who are volunteering in their local community.
All projects will be using sport as a tool for social change within their local community.
Applications must be submitted via a video presentation or photographic presentation and include a full description of the project of no more than 250 words.
2008 winners
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North West - Ilya Ovenchkin, 22, Manchester. Ilya caught the eye of Owen Hargreaves with an innovative project in Manchester. The project uses the game of Futsal to bring communities together in inner city estates. It is aimed at many of the new immigrant populations coming to Manchester from Eastern Europe which Ilya has reached out to to help integrate into the community. The Nike Player Panel funding will allow him to develop this further and make links with the local police to discuss young people and the issues of gangs and related violence.
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North East - Jamie Cairns, 19, Newcastle. Jamie has volunteered at Rutherford Football Club since the age of 15. Having been in trouble from an early age Jamie has committed his time and energy to help progress this community club and now runs an under 16's boys team. Steven Taylor was impressed with the praise Jamie received from within the club and his passion to help develop the young players both on and off the pitch. The funding will be used to further the junior and women and girls section at the club.
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Midlands - Daniel Moses, 19, Birmingham. Daniel is a regular volunteer at Continental Star which offers young people of all ages, genders and background the opportunity to play in a safe and structured environment. The project operates in the same area that Gabby Agbonlahor grew up and he felt Daniel should be rewarded for his efforts in the local community. The Nike Player Panel funding will enable the project to be introduced to further inner city estates across Birmingham.
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South - Ayesha Adben, 23, London. The Muslim Women's Sports Foundation offers Muslim women and girls a safe and comfortable environment to engage in sport and puts the quality of coaching at the heart of the project. Ayesha has progressed from a participant to regular volunteer and is now secretary of the foundation. Theo Walcott recognised her desire to create a social change within the community through the number of hours Ayesha volunteered. With the funding the foundation will now be able to increase the number of sports on offer.
Applying
Details of the next Nike Player Panel coming soon.
