Since the start of the 2022/23 season, West Ham United have been partaking in the Premier League Academy Enrichment Programme, with age groups from U9s-U18s taking part in initiatives such as the National Poetry Day competition, No Room for Racism and Rainbow Laces.
The purpose of the programme is to enable Academy Players to develop their potential in a variety of settings, both beyond the classroom and the football pitch.
The programme has contributed to the wider personal development opportunities presented to Academy players at the Club, alongside the newly-branded 360Hammers programme available to all U9-U21 age groups – looking to develop all-round young people alongside football.
As part of the initiative, age groups U11s-U9s took part in National Poetry Day, with the theme for 2022 set as sustainability. The young Hammers were tasked with creating a West Ham United themed-sustainability poem.
Everyone at West Ham United would like to congratulate Olujimi and Jesse, members of our U11 team, whom both received national prizes chosen by the Premier League for their poems: ‘SustaiNOBLEity’ and ‘West Ham Forever’.
Both poems will be created as canvases to be framed on the walls of the education department at Chadwell Heath.
Meanwhile, the focus for members of the U13s squad was No Room for Racism. The players received a 60-minute workshop from Kick it Out’s Troy Townsend in early October, focusing on awareness and addressing racial inequality in football and society.
The U13s and U18s then specifically looked at the Premier League’s No Room for Racism scheme, discussing the importance of the campaign as well as what it means to be an ally. Both groups completed a poster displaying messages of support, equality and why the Premier League No Room for Racism campaign is important.
The U14s took part in a workshop with a focus on Rainbow Laces. The group were introduced to the 2022 theme of ‘solidarity’ and the young Hammers were tasked with creating Rainbow Cards, displaying what solidarity meant to them.
The players received a pair of Rainbow Laces to show their support for the campaign and all schoolboy age group captains wore Rainbow armbands, in a demonstration of the Academy’s support for Rainbow laces and inclusivity.
Academy player care officer Evan Hall was delighted with how the workshops were received, highlighting the importance of discussing such topics with players during their developmental years.
“Our involvement in the Premier League Academy Enrichment Programme has been a huge success this year,” Hall reflected. “It has allowed for our Academy players from various age ranges to support some of the fantastic campaigns that are run over the course of the season. All of the campaigns we looked at are really important and the boys learned a lot about inclusivity and acceptance.
“It’s something we are keen to continue with and our participation will continue throughout the season and beyond. It creates a togetherness at the Academy, which is a key value for us at Chadwell Heath.
“We have also launched 360Hammers this year, which will see us provide all of our Academy players across all age groups with different workshops around financial planning, career skills, relationships and so on. We want to develop the boys as people as well as footballers, so these workshops are really important to us at the Academy.”
