Silvertown local Divin Mubama returned home to support his fellow Newham youngsters to improve their career aspirations.
The 18-year-old striker, who joined the Academy of Football before working his way through the ranks to sign his first professional contract and make his senior West Ham United debut this season, attended the West Ham United Foundation’s Moving on Up career development programme.
Delivered collaboratively with ELBA (East London Business Alliance), Newham Workplace, Newham College, NLP Sports and New Direction, Moving on Up is designed to support young black men who live in Newham with their work aspirations.
Mubama shared the challenges he faced during his upbringing in the borough with participants. The key message he hoped the young men would take away from the session was self-belief, which has been crucial throughout his development years and has recently seen him break into the first-team squad.
“A big factor in getting me to where I am today has been self-belief,” he told participants. “If you don’t believe in yourself, you can’t expect others to. You have to make sure you set yourself targets that will push you to keep going and always believe in yourself, through your darkest days and through your best days.”
Mubama’s words and answers during a Q&A session proved both inspirational and aspirational.
“I found it very engaging, and it was great to hear the career pathway challenges from a footballer’s perspective,” said one of the participants. “I think the public often put footballers on a pedestal so perhaps they can come across as a bit selfish I guess, so it’s great to see Divin taking a different approach with us.
“I wasn’t expecting him to be so open with us considering the media training footballers go through. I really appreciate him speaking to us like that though because as a young Black male as well, I’ve experienced similar stuff and it helps hearing that other people who are in the position they are, have gone through similar things and are able to be successful.”
Foundation education manager Cormac Hanrahan praised the young striker for his ability to communicate meaningfully with the participants.
“Divin’s session was very empowering for the young people,” he said. “Being 18 years old and from Newham himself, he spoke very well. There were plenty of takeaways for the young people to work on as they move forward with their careers such as discipline, commitment and goal setting which have all been key in Divin’s progression as a footballer.”
Mubama’s visit to Moving on Up is part of a wider Club-led initiative, the Players’ Project, whereby players from the Men’s, Women’s and Academy squads support key areas of community work.
“It's the least I can do!” Mubama enthused. “I’ve mostly grown up in the borough so sharing my experience with the young people in the community is a blessing in itself. I’m very grateful.
“You can definitely feel the community spirit throughout the West Ham United set-up. Everyone has been incredibly supportive throughout my development years. There’s always someone you can lean on. The staff are always there for you to lead you back onto the right path.”
To find out more about Moving on Up or other Foundation employability and education programmes, please contact Cormac Hanrahan at [email protected].
