English Schools Football Association / PlayStation Careers Event

A group of Year 9 students were involved in a visit to The Hawthorns on Monday 3 February to take part in the Next Level Live event organised by the English Schools Football Association (ESFA) and PlayStation. The day started with the students arriving at the ground and being welcomed by some top performers in their profession including freestyle players, a FIFA YouTuber and FIFA commentators. Throughout the day students were involved in a number of careers talks which included broadcasting, taking part in mock sporting interviews and physiotherapy. Students also spent time in the match analysis rooms where they learnt about how matches are analysed and the tools used to do so. The students were then put into groups and teamed up with a member of the University Campus of Football Business team where they used sporting footage to create match analysis as seen on Sky Sports. Once students had analysed the footage they then presented this to the other groups with some fantastic work being produced. Students also learnt about nutrition with staff from Nando’s which included a sauce making session with an experienced chef and rapper Big Zuu. Students learnt about the importance of nutrition and its place in sport and all had a go at following a recipe to create their own sauce… there were some very strange looking sauces produced!

After a Nando’s lunch students tried out some of the latest FIFA PlayStation games, as well as trying out their free styling skills and precision skills in the gaming zone. The students had a fantastic time, learning about the different careers in sport and how to get into those careers. Rohan said ‘The best of the day was playing the games as well as learning how to cook with Big Zuu as he made the session come alive.’ And Riyan said ‘I found the day really interesting and how football incorporates different areas such as physiotherapists, the media and nutrition’.