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Post-'match' analysis: a successful outreach event with Liverpool FC
‘Pathways to Higher Education’ was a two day event which we hosted last week, designed specifically for the Liverpool Academy U18 players. Allowing the players to explore the opportunities available in higher education - whether this be studying during or after their football career - was central to this visit.
Our academics delivered a bespoke programme, to give the players a taste of lectures and seminars in our department. Players then had the chance to meet and socialise with current students and staff; deepening their understanding of the benefits of studying at university.
Tuesday evening: lecture
To kick the visit off, Dave Webber – PAIS Teaching Fellow and lifelong LFC fan – presented his research around football and politics, in a keynote lecture entitled: ‘Politics and Power in the People's Game’. The players were challenged to think about the consequences of the increasingly high levels of money, which dominate the football world.
Wednesday morning: seminars
Trevor McCrisken delivered a mini-lecture on ‘What is politics?’, which set the players up for a choice of taster seminars. Nick Vaughan-Williams, Matthew Watson, Juanita Elias, and Steve Kettell led these sessions. Players and staff engaged with current students and discussed topics ranging from ‘What is the greatest security threat we face?’ to ‘The politics of food poverty’. Particularly provocative was the question posed by Steve: ‘Would the world be better off without religion?’, while Juanita had the players checking the labels of their kit to consider ‘The politics of the clothes we wear’.
Phil Roscoe, Head of Education and Welfare at LFC Academy, joined the players for this visit and said:
The seminars took the players outside their comfort zone and really made them consider how politics is all around them. The event has helped the players realise that university teaching is open and accessible. It has also allowed them to think about how university could be an option for them”
Following a campus tour led by PAIS student ambassadors, players and staff took part in a panel discussion, with PAIS
students and university footballers. The discussion was centred around the benefits of studying at university, with our students shining a light on their experiences at Warwick. PAIS finalist, Abi Awojobi, rounded the session off with a presentation about what studying at university has meant to her.
Wednesday afternoon: the match
Warwick University Men's Football team took on the Liverpool U18s side, at Cryfield Sports Pitches. The match gave the Liverpool players an excellent insight into the strengths and opportunities of sport at Warwick.
A good natured Warwick crowd watched in the glorious sunshine, as the university players raised their game. Warwick held off relentless attacks and took the lead just before half time, with a cool finish from captain Alex Roberts!
Despite Liverpool equalising in the second half, Warwick followed with another goal to take the lead again. However, the fitness and technical ability of the Academy players gave them the advantage, as they eventually went 3-2 ahead.
The referee, Billy Greening, a PAIS MA student in US Foreign Policy, kept firm control of the game and bravely gave a penalty to Liverpool, despite the protests of the Warwick players and fans.
4-2 to Liverpool was the final score, but the Warwick players did themselves proud. The match thoroughly entertained the strong Cryfield crowd and people watching the game live on the big screen in the Piazza.
A big thanks...
goes out to all those who supported this event and helped make it such a success! The event was very much a team effort, but a special thanks to PAIS PhD student, Shahnaz Akhter. Shahnaz works as part of our Outreach team and came up with the idea for this event. What's more, she did much of the planning and looking after the Academy players once they arrived. She was also ably supported on the day by our wonderful team of PAIS student ambassadors.
Both PAIS and LFC Academy see this as the beginning of a long term relationship. In the near future, we will be doing a follow up event at Rainhill High School, which is where the Academy players study.
