Antonin inspires local students during Stadium visit

Antonin Kinsky brought 60 local school students’ time taking part in Premier League Inspires to a fittingly inspirational conclusion at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium today.

The personal development programme delivered by Tottenham Hotspur Foundation empowers students to reach their potential through a series of regular face-to-face group sessions, mentoring, workshops and social action projects.

To celebrate their participation, students are then invited to the Stadium for workshops and a tour – and today a special Q&A with Antonin.

He said: “I think coming to events like this is a great thing to do because I remember myself, when I was a young boy and a sportsperson or someone successful visited, it was a big inspiration.

“If there’s at least one boy or girl events like these have a nice impact on, through seeing the Stadium or speaking to someone, it’s precious and something great to be involved with.”

Students involved came from Harris Academy Tottenham and Heartlands High School in Haringey, Lea Valley Academy, St. Anne’s Catholic High School for Girls and Wren Academy in Enfield, and Holy Family Catholic School in Walthamstow.

Mariam, 14, said: “We feel privileged to have been part of this programme. We’ve been practicing key skills for our futures like how to be a leader, communicate and work as a team. The Foundation staff are really nice.

“Today’s been amazing. We’ve learnt there are so many other jobs you might want to do at the Stadium in the future aside from being a footballer or coach.”

Zumeya, 13, added: “The programme’s been lovely. It’s taught us things we wouldn’t normally do in or even outside of school, so it’s really helped.

“The Stadium’s very nice and people have been so welcoming. It’s a privilege to come here as not everyone can say they’ve been.”

The Foundation has delivered Premier League Inspires to over 700 young people across more than 30 schools in the local area, with staff delivering some 5,000 hours of targeted support.

Steve Campbell is the pastoral manager at Heartlands High School, where four cohorts of students have now benefited from the programme.

He said: “We’ve had a few challenging kids who have really enjoyed the programme and speak highly of the Foundation mentors – one of the first still talks about it now.

“Having that professional voice and it being affiliated with football makes a difference.

“Then, coming here, this shows students a different side to where they come from and it’s quite refreshing.”

Premier League Inspires is funded by the Premier League and Professional Footballers’ Association through the Premier League Charitable Fund. Today’s event was supported by Direct Action Training and Spark2Life.