Community Day at KD Grammar School

In partnership with Zesh Rehman Foundation

What was the day about?

FC United made an alliance with the Zesh Rehman Foundation creating an event which took place on Wednesday 23rd March. This involved children from 3 different primary schools, St Mary’s C of E, St Cuthbert’s RC and Manchester Islamic Preparatory School coming together and working as mixed teams at KD Grammar for Boys, Whalley Range.

Each school brought 4 boys and 4 girls. During the day the children were mixed into equal groups of both girls and boys mixing children from different schools together. The aim of the day was to get the children working well together in teams.

Who was involved, apart from FC United?

The Zesh Rehman Foundation
The foundation was set up by Zesh Rehman, captain of the Pakistan national team and one of the first British Asian footballer to play in the premiership, to promote football as a tool for enhancing community cohesion, support young Asian participation in football and to encourage youngsters from all backgrounds to become positive role models, inspiring future generations.

KD Grammar School for Boys, Whalley Range
KD Grammar is situated in Whalley Range, and was the host for the day. Head of PE Irfan Kawri, ensured the day ran smoothly providing all the necessary equipment. The staff at the school were very welcoming providing children and staff with snacks and refreshments when needed.

St.Cuthberts RC Primary School, Withington
The school brought along 8 pupils, all of whom were extremely well behaved and participated with enthusiasm in all activities.

St. Marys CofE Primary School, Moss Side
The school brought 16 pupils to the day, and all were very welcoming to other pupils from different schools. The pupils showed great interest in making new friends from the other schools.

Manchester Islamic Preparatory School, Withington
The prep school were a pleasure to coach on the day, with all pupils readily engaging in the activities and integrating with children from other ethnic backgrounds.

How did it go?

The children were divided into teams so that there were children from each school in each team with an even number of boys and girls. They took part in a few team building activities and football drills before having lunch and moving on to play a mini tournament. Children played extremely well together making new friends and discussing key tactics preparing for the games and activities. Some worked better than others as the more outgoing children were able to talk to one another and discuss, whereas the more quiet children found it hard to get more involved within the teams, making better progress as the day went on. Overall the children really enjoyed themselves and had an excellent day taking part in new and exciting activities. A teacher from St Cuthbert’s expressed her enthusiasm for the games played hoping to incorporate them into her football lessons at the school.