West Ham United’s Kalvin Phillips recently made a surprise appearance at Jo Richardson Community School, funded by The Premier League Charitable Fund and The Professional Footballers’ Association, aiming to inspire those who hope to follow in his footsteps, while encouraging students to follow positive pathways and use sport to learn life skills.
Phillips was welcomed by WHU Foundation Community Hub Officer Jay Pepper and, after overseeing two games of football between different year groups, he offered words of encouragement to the young students at the Academy located in Dagenham in a Q&A, answering questions about the challenges he has faced in his career – to most importantly – what it takes to be a professional footballer.
And with the children clearly delighted when the midfielder arrived, posed for photos and signed autographs, Phillips was quick to explain the importance of such visits to help the wider east London community.
“I really enjoyed it. To come to a school in London where I’ve never been before and see how the kids were and see how good they are at football was brilliant,” said Phillips. “It was a pleasure to meet them all and to answer the questions that they had for me.
“It’s massively important to have these events because school can be very stressful for these kids, especially when they’re going through their exams, so to be able to come down here today and hopefully give them a lift or a little bit of motivation to be better in school or work harder is really nice
“It’s very touching [how his presence could make a difference to the lives of many]. I was in their shoes at one point, so it is very nice to see how this generation are and what kind of personalities some of them have. To work with West Ham and have the opportunity to come here is eye opening more than anything.
“Sport is massive in the world, and I think if you are really good at sport then you can learn thousands of life lessons, as I have in my career, so to be able to chat about them and persuade more kids to get involved and enjoy doing sport will bring a lot out of them.
“They asked me a lot of meaningful and very good questions. I hope they’ve all walked away learning something and it was nice to answer them honestly and maybe open their eyes on what it is like as a professional footballer in this day and age.”
Community Hub Officer Jay Pepper was quick to reiterate the impact Phillips’ visit can have on his students: “I really enjoyed seeing how the kids have engaged with it because it is quite rare to find something where you get as much engagement as we did today across such a wide range of kids.
“There is always one consistency in these kids’ lives and that is their role models and sports. A lot of the kids here are West Ham fans, so to have someone like Kalvin [Phillips] come in, inspire them, and give them a focus of what it takes for them to get to where he is in his career, gives them so many positive things to aspire towards.
“It’s incredibly important [for West Ham to have relationships within the local community]. West Ham are a community Club, and with Jo Richardson being a Community School, they go hand in hand. It goes along with what Jo Richardson stands for, which is successful for all, and to have someone like West Ham, who won the [UEFA Europa] Conference League last season, come in and be a massive part of their community progress and push really helps us drives that success for all.
“Having Kalvin here was an absolute pleasure and to have someone who has played at the very top and has represented England come in, share those experiences, and answer some of the questions they had was amazing. All of these kids knew who Kalvin Phillips was, and for them to now say they spoke with him and played football with him can help them accredit that back to things along the way in their own journeys and hopefully today is one of those things that helps set these kids up for great things in the future.”
Jo Richardson pupils Millie and Finley who are West Ham United Season Ticket holders, spoke about their day and how Phillips’ visit gave them a much-needed boost.
Millie said: “I really enjoyed having Kalvin Phillips at our school this afternoon. He was really involved and interesting. He took a lot of time to chat about his career and the challenges he has been through. He talked about the challenges he has faced in his career such as when he snapped his hamstring. I recently broke my elbow and had an operation, so it gave me a boost because I thought I might not be able to play football anymore and couldn’t become a pro, but that isn’t the case.
“I hope we can continue to get opportunities to meet the players as it gives us a good boost. I’ve got a season ticket with West Ham and go to all the games. I’ve been supporting the Club since I was young and really enjoy spending my weekends at the games.”
Meanwhile, Finley added: “As soon as I saw him [Kalvin Phillips], I felt really happy because it is my first-ever time meeting a professional footballer in person and speaking with him really helped boost my confidence. He spoke to me about the importance of my behavior, attitude and what it takes to make it as a professional.
“He told us all to follow our own dreams to stick at our football. I really want to be a professional footballer when I’m older, so I will take all of his advice on board into my own journey.
“I’ve had my season ticket with the Club since we played at Upton Park and now have one at London Stadium. I’ve been a fan my whole life.”
