Wilson helps inspire local students as Tech Slam returns to N17

Wilson Odobert was on hand to encourage local sixth-form students as they got an exclusive look at careers in the world of sport and technology at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium today (Wednesday 9 October).

Tech Slam was attended by 90 students from the Club-supported London Academy of Excellence Tottenham (LAET) and Holy Family Catholic School, in Walthamstow, courtesy of a collaboration between Tottenham Hotspur Foundation and The Hidden Genius Project.

The event featured workshops on coding, sports analytics and website design, before stadium tours and an expo that gave students the chance to speak with various sport and technology employers.

Wilson dropped by and tested out a virtual reality headset, designed his own football boot using specialist software, raced robots and set a keepy-up challenge for students at a stall run by Grow Football, the app that enables players to experience Spurs coaching anytime, anywhere.

Our 19-year-old winger, who joined us from Burnley in the summer, said: “This was new to me as I never got to do anything like this at school. The stadium has amazing technology, so it’s a great place for this. The activities were cool and it’s a special opportunity for the kids.”

The winner of the keepy-up competition was 17-year-old Aniello Dogan from Enfield, a student at LAET. He said the day had been interesting and prompted him to think about what part tech might play in his future: “Tech is definitely becoming normalised within our world and it was great to see how it’s used here at the stadium. I think if you can set up a business in tech you’ll be very successful.”

Jordan Barnes from Haringey Learning Partnership, supporting and motivating students in local schools to be successful, said: “Today’s been fantastic for these students. I think it’s easy to think of tech as computers and, if you’re not good at computers, to not look any further. This is a much more approachable way of thinking about it and helps bridge that gap, so they can see this world is accessible and that there might be opportunities for them.

“To be able to access this sort of space in the stadium feels special and will inspire them in ways they can carry with them when they leave.”

The event concluded with a raffle in which students won footballs signed by Wilson, a Spurs shirt signed by the men’s team and gift bags, as well as Minnesota Vikings merchandise signed by star players Justin Jefferson and Aaron Jones, a MacBook and more.

Andrew Wands, Foundation education manager, said: “We were thrilled to partner with The Hidden Genius Project on another of these fantastic events, as part of our work delivering the Premier League Inspires personal development programme to local youngsters.

“The activities are such a brilliant way to showcase what’s on offer in the world of sport and technology, and another great example of our work in creating education and employment opportunities, using the stadium as a catalyst.”

Dr Brandon Nicholson, The Hidden Genius Project CEO, said: “We’re extremely grateful to Tottenham Hotspur, TEAM, Inc., Marqeta, Goldman Sachs and our multitude of partners for making this such a phenomenal experience for our young people.

“Since our first introduction to the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation team, they’ve been class personified, with an incredible heart to match. We’re inspired by the passion and creativity with which they answer the call to deliver meaningful experiences to young people in north London, and beyond. We look forward to growing this partnership, as we link arms to deepen our impact.”

The Hidden Genius Project is a nonprofit based in California that trains and mentors black male youth in technology creation, entrepreneurship and leadership skills to transform their lives and communities.

Other organisations involved included the Club’s latest partner, Salesforce, Autodesk, Cisco, CreativeHUT, EA, KPMG, Skills Builder Partnership and STEM Learning.