Last week, Young Leaders from Washington, D.C. were delighted to host a special event that welcomed Club Legend Shaun Wright-Phillips and the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Super Cup trophies to their project for a special community football festival.
During the session, Wright-Phillips got to know the Young Leaders and joined over 40 project participants at a local school in a series of football-based water education activities from the Xylem Football & Water Education curriculum. Wright-Phillips even hosted a ‘Rhyming Champion’ competition where youngsters went head-to-head in a Manchester City & Washington, D.C. themed rhyming challenge, as local charity DC SCORES has a focus on developing ‘poet-athletes’.
The festival marked the end of a week of Young Leader training delivered by City in the Community coaches from Manchester at community football projects in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia. Having benefitted from the training, as well as mentoring from Xylem staff throughout the year, the event was the perfect opportunity for Young Leaders to put their learnings into practice.
Speaking about the visit, Saede, a Young Leader in Washington, D.C. said: “The event last week was perfectly timed for us, as young leaders, to put into practice the fun and engaging training we had received the days prior.
“We were proud to exhibit how we integrate the Football and WASH curriculum with poetry to engage our young poet-athletes in understanding the importance of filtering water and river pollution. It was rewarding to see them put their knowledge to the test competing in a rhyming battle with Shaun Wright-Phillips!”
The afternoon ended with photo and signing opportunities for the Young Leaders and children to get the perfect picture with Wright-Phillips, the trophies, and even club mascots Moonchester!
The project forms part of the Xylem Water Heroes Academy network, a joint initiative by Manchester City’s global community programme, Cityzens Giving, and Global Water Technology Partner, Xylem, empowering Young Leaders around the world to tackle water challenges in their communities using the power of football. Take a look at how Young Leaders in Washington, D.C. are tackling urban water pollution in their community HERE.
