Premier League Kicks has supported hundreds of thousands of young people to achieve their potential and improve their wellbeing through free weekly football sessions and educational workshops over the last 15 years.
One person who has benefitted from their involvement is Cameron Marshall, of the Northampton Town Community Trust, who has been named as a Premier League Kicks “Local Legend” as part of the programme’s 15-year anniversary.
Premier League Kicks began in the 2006/07 season in partnership with the Metropolitan Police, with the aim of involving and supporting young people in regular, positive, and fun activity, whilst helping to create stronger, safer, more inclusive communities.
As part of the 15-year celebrations, clubs have nominated a Premier League Kicks ‘Local Legend’ – somebody who has taken part in, volunteered, or worked on the programme and has inspired others through their dedication, work ethic and own personal development. Each nominee will receive a bespoke ‘Local Legend’ football card, which has been created with support from Premier League partner Panini.
Cameron was chosen as NTFC’s Premier League Kicks Local Legend because he has worked as a community inclusion and disability coach on the programme since September 2020. Over this time, he has coached all Kicks groups; evening all inclusive groups in Northampton, Wellingborough and Rushden as well as girls only and disability specific groups.
Anna Letts, Premier League Kicks co-ordinator for NTFC Community Trust said; “Cameron is wholly committed to ensuring each and every child enjoys every Kicks session he leads, and works enthusiastically to see they get the most out of it.
"He is brilliant at forming positive relationships with all Kicks participants, staff and volunteers and creates a safe, fun, welcoming environment for young people to enjoy sport, improve their football and personal skills as well as achieve their potential. His background in disability coaching has been invaluable as Cameron is able to cater for a wide range of SEN and physical disability of participants, ensuring every child can access and enjoy sport through the Kicks programme. Cameron is a great asset to the Kicks programme, assisting me in every area of the programme.
"Carrying out monitoring and evaluation to ensure the quality and success of the programme, data inputting, organising and running tournaments, mentoring volunteers, following up on safeguarding issues, dealing with challenging behaviour at times, attending Premier League Charitable Trust training and always planning fun, engaging sessions. Cameron puts 150% into everything he does and continues to have a wide reaching positive impact on every Kicks participant, volunteer and staff member.”
Cameron himself added:
“No matter where you do the session, you always see people from all backgrounds interacting with each other. We've seen many examples of people that struggle in school settings but thrive here by being the best version of themselves. It is not just about developing football skills but also educating them on how to be kind, respectful and how important it is to do things that you enjoy."
Heather, Disability PL Kicks parent said: “Cameron is such a great team leader, we love coming to kicks to see him! He has really helped us with teddy by turning football into something fun which will hopefully be a lifelong skill, we never thought would’ve been possible with our son’s condition."
The NTFC Community Trust began its Premier League Kicks delivery in September 2019 and since then has hosted 991 Kicks sessions and engaged a total of 872 participants.