SEPTEMBER 2021 • ISSUE NO. 1922
MENTAL HEALTH Young people face pressures leading to anxiety and depression See inside
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Meet the students keeping their dreams alive
Black exam excellence!
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BEYOND THE EARTHQUAKE True horror of Haiti revealed
The Caribbean is no stranger to various forms of natural disasters. However, the extent of destruction and loss of life in Haiti is distinctive. Very rarely does a catastrophe affect other countries in the region with the same scale, severity and longevity of damage. Page 3
Inside
ROUNDUP
THIS MONTH
NEWSPAPER
Spotlight Keira Hurst
News, views, stories & videos
Black exam excellence: Students celebrate their amazing results p6 Why we need to change the narrative when it comes to the 'war on woke' p8, 20
THE 10 MOST POPULAR STORIES ON VOICE-ONLINE.CO.UK 1. NHS nurse launches petition to stop husband of 19 years being deported
Linda Rose works for the NHS as a Head of Nursing. The petition is her last attempt to stop her husband’s deportation to Jamaica
2. Will Smith to play father of tennis aces Venus and Serena in blockbuster film King Richard set to be released later this year
Why prioritising students' mental health is so important: Education special p14 Barrister Abimbola Johnson to head board fighting racism within the police p24
3. Reggae Boy Leon Bailey on the brink of big money move to Premier League as Aston Villa close in
Highly rated player has turned down other offers
4. Exclusive: Jamaican national suicidal after being detained for deportation flight Jamaican nationals have slammed the Home Office for its 'unjust' treatment
5. Arsenal and Spurs put rivalry to one side to support mental health Teams kicked off the Mind Series at the Emirates Stadium recently
6. Anger as Rasta teen says Jamaican police cut off her dreadlocks
Princess Nzinga Candice King, 19, claims her hair was trimmed by a police officer while in custody
Elders hold the key to help take us through the right door, says Rev John Root p28
7. Care worker kicked in the face by police who mistook him for a wanted man Musa Usuf, from Sheffield, visited a Tesco store in Burngreave while on break from his work
8. Manchester schoolteacher pens new books after two decades of making a difference in young people's lives
Sandra Smith Brown has published a series of maths, science and English books
Youngster Callum on why eSports is here to stay – and how it can change our lives p36
9. Ghana and Dominica sign agreement to waive travel
Visa requirements between the two countries will be waived
Hope Powell continues to aim high in her role at Brighton p46
10. Deportation flight to Jamaica: One detainee released and some tickets cancelled
One of the Jamaican nationals who was detained ahead of a controversial deportation flight to Jamaica next week has been released and some detainees had their tickets cancelled
This issue is 48 pages
Keira has excelled in her A-levels and has secured a place at the University of Warwick
AS A DILIGENT student, I was excited to choose my A-level subjects. I have always been passionate about language and socio-political issues so choosing to study Spanish, Economics and Sociology came naturally to me. These subjects aligned to my career goals to work in diplomatic relations. However, transitioning to a grammar from a comprehensive school, as a young black woman, meant I had to navigate an unfamiliar white middle class environment. Being confident in my own ability was sometimes met with passive aggression and being undermined by teachers and peers. I overcame those hurdles and now know my attitude, achievements and success will always speak for themselves. Studying and surviving through the pandemic was something that required resilience. Lockdown allowed me to gain a better understanding of my well-being, powering me through long days of studying and tutoring. Working remotely and meeting school deadlines gave me structure and organisation. I successfully secured a place at the University of Warwick studying Politics and International Studies, after achieving two As in Spanish and Economics and an A* in Sociology. I aspire to be a diplomat and work alongside international governmental organisations, to create positive change and impactful decisions. Diplomacy is sadly a white male dominated field, which has at times made me feel doubtful, but strong women around me have continually supported my ambitions and remind me of my power. They reaffirm my passion and are a large part of who I am today. I am eternally grateful for their guidance and the role they play in my success. Outside of study, I love to indulge in skincare and beauty and cooking new dishes for my family. I relish the idea of being able to travel the world in the kitchen.
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News feature
TRUE HORROR OF HAITI
SO MUCH SUFFERING: August’s earthquake has killed more than 2,000 Haitians and injured thousands more in the south-western part of the western hemisphere’s poorest nation
O
N SATURDAY, August 14, 2021 a magnitude 7.2 earthquake devastated Haiti, killing more than 2,000 people and injuring thousands more. This disaster follows a magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck the country in 2018 which killed at least 12 people, while a magnitude 7.1 earthquake in 2010 destroyed the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince and killed an estimated 310,000 people. The recent earthquake has taken place against a backdrop of additional challenges that confront the nation with the assassination of the former president in July as well as the ongoing troubles of poverty, instability from the climate crisis, COVID-19, gang violence and the ongoing recovery from the 2010 earthquake. Why Haiti? Haiti is located in the Caribbean, a region that is no stranger to various forms of natural disasters. By Caribbean standards, the destruction and loss of life in Haiti is distinctive. Very rarely does a natural disaster affect other Caribbean countries with the same scale, severity and longevity of dam-
age as seen in the 2010 Haitian earthquake and quite possibly the most recent earthquake on August 14. Modern Haiti has been shaped by the arrested development imposed on it by France, Britain and the United States since its independence in 1801 as a country that forcibly freed itself from slavery and French colonialism which has led to isolation, debt, poverty, weak infrastructure, corruption and exploitation. To understand the vulnerability of Haiti to natural disasters, you have to look at natural disasters differently from the traditional, inevitable (almost biblical) events that cannot be stopped or mitigated. Natural disasters as products of unnatural management and faulty response The extent to which a natural disaster could devastate an area largely depends on the level of preparedness in limiting the loss of life and the effectiveness of the response. In Haiti’s case, the infrastructure needed to reduce damage from a potential earthquake was, and still is, non-existent. Institutions are fairly weak with
The deadly earthquakes that have struck the Caribbean island are adding to the misery suffered by its people. By Lyndon Mukasa tax collection, while funding for the necessary infrastructure remains low. Currently, the government of Haiti doesn’t have a national disaster risk management plan. While the government has recommended since 2010 that builders follow earthquake-resistant standards, because parliament has not yet voted on a national building code, there is no way to enforce this expectation. Up to 90 per cent of all buildings in Haiti are estimated to not be earthquake-resistant. In addition, Haiti has been saddled repeatedly with corrupt leaders (often with US support) who enact policies that are favourable to US interests that have historically led to a stunted ability to respond to crises effectively. Even though the current response is ongoing, we can see
from past events how things are likely to play out. The 2010 earthquake revealed a shocking misuse of funds. Journalist and author Jonathan Katz argues that much of the money sent in the aftermath of the earthquake did not reach the Haitian people. US aid spending, in particular, prioritised preventing social unrest and deterring mass migration rather than recovery and rebuilding. Natural disasters as a means of applying “shock doctrine” Perhaps even more insidious than the misallocation of funds is the possibility that the 2010 earthquake created an opportunity for sweeping neo-liberal economic reforms that have been frequently referred to as the “shock doctrine,” a term coined by author and political
activist Naomi Klein that characterises a pattern of economic reforms pushed on to vulnerable developing countries after a disaster that usually results in the transfer of public ownership of resources and institutions in to private hands. In the aftermath of the disaster, there was a significant push to reduce the role of the public sector in Haiti’s recovery. Agustin Aguerre, the Haiti manager for the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), argued in favour of developing the private sector without consideration for the role of the public sector. At the time, there was little resistance from politicians and worker-based collectives who had successfully pushed back and limited privatisation efforts before. However, much of these groups had been dissolved or rendered obsolete after the earthquake. The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC) was set up as the country’s most powerful decision-making body. It was designed to coordinate the response and spend the donor money in place of the Haitian government. As with other organisations set up after the
earthquake, Haitians were prevented from having a majority stake in the organisation at 41 per cent only. It was later found that for every $100 (£73) of Haiti reconstruction contracts awarded by the American government, $98.40 (£72) went back to American companies. Conclusion It is clear that foreign intervention in Haiti has severely harmed development and any viable response to natural disasters. Following the August 14 earthquake, it is likely this tragedy will be used further as an opportunity to entrench neoliberal economic reforms just as with the outcomes of the 2010 earthquake. Haiti, like many other countries in the global south, are having the capacity of the state reduced for private interests with the consequences for future disaster management being eroded completely. Lyndon Mukasa is a writer and researcher. He studied Inter-
national Development at the
London School of Economics.
14 | THE VOICE
SEPTEMBER 2021
Education
We all need educating about mental health PUSHED TO THE LIMIT: Josephine only learned that she had serious mental health issues after she left school; inset below left, young people can feel abandoned and suffer in silence (photo: Monstera)
The moving story of Josephine should provide a valuable lesson for all of us and make us think about the issues involved and what steps need to be taken to right the wrongs. By Charles Ebikeme
D
ESPITE BEING “quite academic” and taking part in countless extracurricular activities, by the age of 13 it became apparent that Josephine was not okay. She only learned much later in life, after leaving school, that she had serious mental health problems. Depression and anxiety was a constant part of her school life, something you cannot ignore. Writing on the blog of Mind UK, the mental health charity, Josephine tells the story of how her school didn’t know how to support her when she had serious mental health problems. This month, more than eight million pupils will head back to school.
IMPACT
At the best of times, the school environment has a significant impact on a young person’s emotional wellbeing. In the midst of a global pandemic, safeguarding that wellbeing has become even more important. Every young person would
So many young people face pressures in life, leading to anxiety, depression and eating disorders have had a starkly different experience of the past school year. A study released in January of this year by the Education Policy Institute and the Prince’s Trust, highlighted the already worsening mental health among young people, with researchers also warning the consequences of the pandemic was likely to exacerbate existing mental health and wellbeing problems. The school environment privileges academic performance over other aspects of youth development. As such,
mental health often comes low down the list of priorities. Literacy and numeracy, as represented in the exam end results, are seen as the sole key markers of success. At the same time, young people are facing unprecedented pressures in life, leading to anxiety, depression and eating disorders. Despite the fact that ethnic minorities, on the whole, leave school better qualified than their peers, ethnic minorities, particularly black people and Muslims, encounter dual disadvantages, firstly in employment and then, when in work, in gaining career advancement, according to the 2015 School Report by Runnymede Trust. This dual disadvantage is compounded by mental health issues that are prevalent within the black and minority ethnic (BAME) communities.
STATISTICS
The statistics for mental health issues within BAME communities are stark. BAME young people are twice as likely to be
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referred to mental health services through social care and youth justice than through primary care.
for their pupils over the past three years. In 2016, 36 per cent of schools that were surveyed provided some form of support,
The school environment privileges academic performance over other aspects of development It seems that across the UK, young people are left waiting unacceptable lengths of time for access to NHS children and young people’s mental health services, which are often unable to meet the needs of older children and young adults accessing support independently, and rarely offer any support to young people after the age of 18. Ethnicity has a significant role in determining how young people receive mental health care. And this leaves many young people without access to services at an age where they are often most in need of support. Increasingly, schools are taking on the mental health burden. Schools in England are more and more buying in professional mental health support
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while in 2019 that number had risen to 66 per cent. Unfortunately, in 2020, government training for mental health leaders in schools stalled and delayed due to the pandemic. For children’s wellbeing to thrive during their time at school, teachers need the knowledge to nurture young people’s development. Josephine’s story is one replicated across the country – a system that isn’t well adapted to the needs of young people. Josephine now helps mental health charities such as Mind UK. There are more and more resources available to teachers, pupils, parents and the whole community that covers everything from bullying to sleep problems; where to get ur-
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gent advice and support; and safeguarding vulnerable children. However, mental health should not be extracurricular. There are more young people struggling to cope with their mental health. Children have also reported to have suffered mental health issues, with some reporting to have left the teaching profession altogether as a result. Ideally, mental health needs to be talked about the same way physical education or healthy eating is.
APPROACH
The government promotes a “whole school or college approach” to mental health and wellbeing, looking to implement evidence-informed approaches, with research showing that when schools adopt a comprehensive approach to discussing mental health it supports all pupils – including those who are experiencing mental health difficulties already. Charles Ebikeme is a freelance writer and academic based in
London. Read Josephine’s story in full at mind.org.uk
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SEPTEMBER 2021
THE VOICE | 15
Education
‘UNIVERSITY LEFT ME FEELING OSTRACISED’
Montel Gordon couldn’t wait to begin studying for a degree and experiencing three years of freedom – but he found himself suffering from Imposter Syndrome. Here, he shares the pain of his university experience
A
S I drove down for freshers, I recollected how I anticipated this day for years. University is deemed to be considered the greatest years of your life. Three years of freedom, leaving the nest to fend for yourself. To my surprise, I soon found myself a social outcast amongst my peers in my accommodation, my course and around campus. My confident and loud persona was shunned as I became timid and introverted, a shadow of my old self. Imposter Syndrome is a psychological pattern that includes a collection of feelings of inadequacy and failure as an individual continues to doubt their abilities, skills and accomplishments. Arguably, attending university and in the workplace is when this becomes more apparent. Despite academically being on par with their white counterparts, black students often feel marginalised and overwhelmed when coming to the higher educational setting being surrounded by white students from different socio-economic backgrounds. However, this isn’t an issue isolated towards just black and other ethnic minority students. White students also experience Imposter Syndrome, particularly those coming from poor and working-class backgrounds. Similarly to black students, they’re equally ridiculed for their linguistic ability, how they dress and their socio-economic status. In contrast, their experience differentiates from black students when examining the situation through the nuanced intersectional lens of race, gender and class. Moreover, black people only make up 3.3 per cent of the general population in contrast to the 86 per cent of the white population, according to the ethnicity facts and figures by
I found my loud persona was shunned and I became a shadow of my old self the UK Government from the last census in 2011; thence, our university population is significantly lower. The Russell Group universities, the 24 most-renowned institutions which attract the nation’s brightest students, have large racial disparities among their students and many of the black students considerably suffer from Imposter Syndrome.
INEQUALITIES
As a study from The University of Birmingham earlier this year indicates, non-Russell Group universities have a cohort of approximately eight per cent of black students versus less than four per cent at Russell Group institutions. With most black students disproportionately concentrated at post-1992 universities, Russell Group universities have consequently become institutions that have been notoriously regarded as predominantly white institutions. Nonetheless, the Russell Group association have understood these inequalities in the higher education sector as they endeavour to provide academic, pastoral and financial support for disadvantaged students. As Russell Group chief executive Dr Tim Bradshaw stated on tackling the racial disparities at these institutions: “The Government’s decision to place a stronger emphasis on tackling racial disparities in higher
TOUGH TIMES: Montel Gordon found it difficult to adapt to a life in higher education (photo: Kampus Production)
education and for graduates is welcome. “Racial inequality is unacceptable in any part of our society. Its causes are complex and deep-rooted, demanding intelligent and sustained interventions from the early years through to later life in which Government, universities, the regulator, schools, employers, public services and local communities work together.” From a personal standpoint, Imposter Syndrome hindered my whole undergraduate experience. I entered the higher education system in September 2017 as a naive, baby-faced 18-year-old.
CONFIDENT
In college, I was confident in lectures, contributing at every convenient opportunity, which was quite the contrary at university. I often felt at constant odds with myself questioning my academic ability and often embarrassed at times for attending a state school in contrast to the private and grammar schools my white classmates attended. Despite my relatively middleclass background, I grew up in the inner city of Birmingham and attended a state school. Most of my friends also attended state schools, were raised in single-parent or low-income housing, were all conversed in the same vernacular and dressed in a way that did not suit the quintessentially white university aesthetic. To me, the evidence was clear. Despite all my academic vigour, I still felt ostracised and at constant odds to prove I belong and could fit in. I couldn’t be the only one who felt this way, could I? The diversity among staff was particularly questionable, especially at Russell Group institutions. When exploring the statistics on black academics
in the UK, the results are staggering. A Study by University UK in 2019, the representative organisation for the UK’s universities, revealed BAME staff are poorly under-represented
likely to drop out than white and Asian students. Imposter Syndrome can also have pernicious effects on the academic attainment of black students, with a 13 per cent gap between
I felt at odds with myself, questioning my academic ability and often embarrassed for attending a state school in senior academic and university leadership roles. Of 19,000 people employed as professors in the UK, only 400 are BAME women and, out of those, only 25 are black females. Additionally, the study also revealed black students are one-and-a-half times more
the likelihood of white students receiving a first-class or uppersecond class degree. In the wake of the BLM protests in the summer of 2020, many universities made promises to tackle racial inequalities, disparities and lack of black representation in academic and
leadership roles. Of course, this will not solve this feeling of Imposter Syndrome across the board, but more black faces in these predominantly white institutions will help.
PROUD
My advice to overcoming Imposter Syndrome is to own your experience. Be proud of your heritage, your socio-economic background, how you speak and always remember: everyone’s journey is unique. Montel Gordon is a PhD sociology student at The University of
Warwick focusing on racial ine-
qualities in the education system. Equally, he is a journalist focusing on music and social issues and
is the founder of the music blog page Nostalgia’99.
34 | THE VOICE
SEPTEMBER 2021
News feature
Black to Front? Let’s not forget our television past
‘PIONEERS’: From left, Eamonn Walker starred in Til Death Us Do Part to care for the racist Alf Garnett; Coronation Street’s Shirley Armitage, played by Lisa Lewis, had a fling with the Cobbles’ Curly Watts (photo: Digital Spy Forums)
Channel 4’s big September 10 gesture gives us the ideal opportunity to reflect on the way we were portrayed on TV in the past. By Dotun Adebayo
C
HANNEL 4’S Black To Front day is coming to a TV set round your way shortly, if it hasn’t been there already. It’s the day when the television channel decides to let black presenters take over the jewels in its crown. In fact, its entire programming schedule on the day will be fronted by black presenters. They say it’s to remind themselves and all the other broadcasters that there is still a long way to go in the Black Lives Matter narrative about equality in the workplace. They say it’s “part of the channel’s ongoing commitment to improve black representation both on and off screen.” We say, let’s not forget the ‘spot the black’ days of British television. Once upon a time when a black face appeared on your television set you would scream up the stairs: “MUM, THERE’S A BLACK PERSON ON THE TELLY!” The whole house would descend to simply sit there and stare at the box in the corner of the room until the black face disappeared off the screen at which point everybody returned to their business. The ultimate ‘spot the black’ on UK television has to be Ulric Browne aka Winston, the market stallholder in EastEnders who appeared in the soap as an extra for a staggering 34 years from 1985. He was always there in the background for all the big stories in the soap. And yet he hardly ever said a word in all that time. It didn’t matter to the black viewer. We knew his moment would come and when it finally did in a storyline where he reluctantly agreed to shave off his longtime plaits for charity, we really felt for him – a hard-working black man parting with his locks. Even though EastEnders had always prided itself on having
We have to say, let’s not forget the ‘spot the black’ days of British television rich black characters, none of them have been so enduring as Winston. To us he represented stability – you knew where you were and that the world would be all right as long as he was always there in the background. See what’s happened to the world in the last two years since he departed? Shirley Armitage was the first regular black character in Coronation Street. Wonderfully played by Lisa Lewis, she even gets to have a fictional affair with Curly.
EVIDENCE
That was in 1983. Until then you would have been hard pressed to think of any black or brown people living in Greater Manchester, given the evidence from the long-running series. It seemed to exist in a world of its own, untouched by the Brixton riots or the New Cross Fire or British reggae/lovers rock. Having said that, this is still two years ahead of the first episode of EastEnders. Plus the groundbreaking newly established Channel 4 was not doing much better with its newly launched Brookside series. Until the brilliant Louis Emerick, right, stepped in to play the everyman of the series Mick Johnson, ably accompanied by first
Nicola Gardner and then Suzette Llewellyn as his other half, Channel 4 was not doing much better than ITV on their soaps, which after all are supposed to be a reflection on real life. I know what I’m talking about. I myself was a ‘spot the black’ boy in the Hammer House of Horrrors flick The Oblong Box. You know how I don’t like to name drop, well it was alongside Vincent Price and Christopher Lee, the two greatest actors from the horror genre. And then, of course, I was one of the ‘spot the black boys’ in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever alongside Brinsley Forde from The Double Deckers/Aswad.
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Sitcoms are, on the other hand, the butt of everyone’s jokes and, in the 60s and 70s (arguably until today) became a convenient foil for TV scriptwriters to use in poking fun at the by-now emerging black British population.
very brief appearance on Only Fools & Horses in which she played Mrs Murphy in an episode form 1983. She also went on to have a modest movie career. But she is largely forgotten when we remember the original black pioneers of British TV.
To use a black woman to malign an Asian was like a line to kill two ethnic minorities In the 1970s’ reboot of the comedy series The Rag Trade, the ‘spot the black’ character Jojo in the ensemble cast rambunctiously performed by Lucita Lijertwood, is actually heard saying of an Asian woman “It’s no good... she comes from overseas, she doesn’t understand the way we talk.” It’s shocking but to use a black woman with a West Indian accent to malign an Asian woman is tantamount to using one line to kill two ethnic minorities. Even the studio audience’s ‘canned’ laughter was somewhat reticent. Lijertwood is an interesting early black British TV actress who was in many ‘spot the black’ moments. Not least in a
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There was usually a black boy in the back of the class in Please Sir! especially when there were rowdy scenes in the classroom like on episode one of the third series where the ‘kids’ are having an impromptu knees-up when teacher’s not about. Not sure if it was always the same actor but he was later joined by a female of the species. “MUM, THERE ARE TWOBLACK PEOPLE ON THE TELLY.” For this sitcom about a hapless newly qualified secondary school teacher put in charge of what appears to be the remedial class full of delinquents, ‘spot the black’ moments are also shorthand to denote ‘inner city’ where all the black peo-
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ple live and attend the worst schools. A reassuring qualification for the rest of the country up and down the shires. The ultimate ‘spot the black’ moment must be when Eamonn Walker walked on to the set of In Sickness and In Health (the sequel series to the controversial Til Death Us Do Part) to care for the notorious fictional racist Alf Garnett.
REGULAR
But when it comes to probably the first regular ‘spot the black’ moments on British television we have to give props to the Sunday evening ITV 1960s spy drama Danger Man. In nearly every episode there were central and random black characters as the action was often set in Africa but always shot on a very basic set in a British studio. It is in the somewhat random moments, as the camera pans across a restaurant and zooms in on a black extra sitting at a dining table with a blonde actress that this series makes its mark on this history, being one of the first peak time television shows where black people were a regular part of the landscape even in the scenes set in Britain.
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46 | THE VOICE SEPTEMBER 2021
Sport TOP SPORTS COVERAGE 24/7 VOICE-ONLINE.CO.UK/SPORT
OF SPORT NEWSPAPER
POWELL AIMING HIGH Brighton boss says WSL side need to push on after progressive 2020/21 campaign By Rodney Hinds
H
OPE POWELL has been synonymous with the women’s game in England for over a decade. She was appointed as the first ever full-time national coach of the England Women’s team in June 1998. She was the youngest ever England coach and the first female England coach. Hope is now the first-team manager of Women’s Super League (WSL) outfit Brighton & Hove Albion. Here she talks to the Voice of Sport about a progressive last season and the advances that the women’s game is making… RH: When you reflect on the 2020/21 season what comes to mind? HP: If I’m honest we probably exceeded expectations. We wanted to do more than just stay in the league. The first season we just wanted to stay in the WSL, but the priorities have gone beyond that now. We want to start looking up the table. We had some real standout displays last term and that contributed to us finishing sixth in the league. We put in the work to justify where we finished. RH: Tell me about some of the standout displays from the last campaign.
“They are a nice bunch. Everybody relies on everybody to play their part” HP: A shock loss to Bristol City was a negative standout, but proved to be a turning point in our season. It made us start again, take time and pay attention to what we were doing. We were the only team to beat champions Chelsea. An away draw against Manchester City was good, too, as we were genuinely competing. Beating Manchester United at home was unexpected. It was an interesting season and we learned a lot about ourselves as a set of staff and players. We have to build on the good parts to ensure that we don’t become a cropper (as against Bristol) in games that we should be performing better in. RH: What tribute can you pay to your staff and players after incremental progress? HP: The players have shown a lot of resilience and togetherness and that has been at the core of our progress. They
are a nice bunch that like each other. The values that we have as a team and club, they live them. They work hard and do it for each other, there are no celebrities, so to speak. Everybody relies on everybody to play their part and they did that really well last season. That cohesiveness has really helped us. The culture shift that we have been working towards is taking effect. RH: Tell me a little about the ‘pandemic season’ which was unique to everyone HP: It was a different way of working and everybody played their part. The staff were magnificent, especially our medical team. It was a relentless period and everyone had to adapt to it. It was a challenge but we realised that we were in a very privileged position in being able to play elite sport and continue to do our jobs. RH: On a personal level, how was season 2020/21 for you? HP: Well, the first lockdown, I quite appreciated to be honest. It was probably the first time since I was a teenager that I didn’t have to travel abroad for work. It was the first time I’d been still for a long time in my life – and that was quite nice as it was a little bit of respite.
IN A GOOD PLACE: Hope Powell says the team has shown a lot of resilience throughout the pandemic
But obviously there was a lot of working from home and that got quite intense but I didn’t have to go anywhere! Elite sport then came back and I think we adapted pretty well. RH: Working at Brighton comes over as a real positive. Share a little about the club. HP: We have a fantastic owner/ chairman in Tony Bloom who values the women’s game, men’s game and the community which is really refreshing. The progress we have made as a team has been recognised and we are being backed in the things we are trying to do which is a nice feeling and good place
to be. Women’s football at this club is valued. RH: Sky Sports will show at least 35 Women’s Super League games exclusively live during the 2021/22 season. That’s a tremendous boost for the game’s development, isn’t it? HP: If you had said 10 years ago that the women’s game would have been offered a deal like this, we would have snapped your hand off! The positive shift in interest is fantastic and the injection of money from commercial partners can only help the game. Hopefully that money filters down to the grassroots which is
the future of the sport. The fact that Sky feel it is a product good enough to show is great and will help everybody raise standards and awareness and as a result get more and more young girls wanting to play. I think the deal makes us the envy of the football world. RH: Are you still enjoying coaching players and everything else that goes with managing a football team? HP: It’s great working with players that have an appetite to learn. We generally have a good time until we lose a match! Essentially, it’s still fun for me.
Will to play tennis icons’ father
HOLLYWOOD STAR Will Smith is to play Richard Williams, father of legendary tennis aces Venus and Serena Williams, in a blockbuster movie later this year. Based on the true story that will inspire the world, Warner Bros. Pictures’ King Richard follows the journey of Richard Williams, an undeterred father instrumental in raising two of the most extraordinarily gifted athletes of all time, who will end up changing the sport of tennis forever. Two-time Oscar nominee Smith stars as Richard, under the direction of Reinaldo Marcus Green. Aunjanue Ellis plays the girls’ mum, Oracene “Brandi” Williams, Saniyaa Sidney stars as Venus, Demi Singleton stars as Serena, with
ROLE: Will Smith, left, and Richard Williams Tony Goldwyn as coach Paul Cohen and Jon Bernthal as coach Rick Macci. The ensemble also includes Andy Bean, Kevin Dunn and Craig Tate. King Richard is due for release in November.
TOGETHERNESS: Hope Powell’s Brighton side finished sixth in the league last season
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SEPTEMBER 2021
THE VOICE | 47
Sport
A 2020 vision
‘How can we afford to let our children play football?’
RISING STAR: Japhet Tanganga is proving to be a massive success in the Premier League at Tottenham – but will the current cost of signing up to your local junior club mean future players will be denied the same opportunity? Below left, one of Footstepz Football Academy’s training sessions
Will the rising costs involved in joining a junior football club mean England will never win a major trophy? asks Joel Campbell
P
ROBABLY, LIKE most football fans up and down the country, I got swept up in all of the Euro 2020 hype and really wanted to be able to say I’ve seen England win a major tournament. I wanted to say I saw the Gareth Southgate era of young guns consisting of Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling et al shoot down Italy. I wanted to laud the generation of talent coming through and the attention to detail showed by the The FA over the last decade which has led to some recognisable and tangible progression as a footballing nation. A couple of weeks later, however, I was in a quandary. As I sat in the press box for my first games of the Premier League season, firstly at European Champions Chelsea, who put Crystal Palace to the sword with a competent 3-0 victory with the last goal coming from debutant Trevoh Chalobah, and then the next day at Spurs where Tottenham beat Premier League champions Manchester City 1-0 in Nuno Espirito Santo’s first game in charge – a victory epitomised by the spirit of full back Japhet Tanganga who was an absolute monster on the day – I couldn’t help but wonder how we sustain the conveyor belt of talent like the aforementioned two coming through? As a parent of an eightyear-old boy and five-yearold daughter, the fervour of Euro 2020 engulfed my house. My son, having shown no interest in the game prior to the tournament, now wants to be a goalkeeper. The dutiful dad that I am, I contacted my local football team, and off to the training session we went. Much like any foot-
“The price for us to train went up to £135 an hour from £80” ball-loving parent, watching my son enjoy himself and start out on his path to who knows what type of footballing glory, filled me with glee. Could he be the next Jordan Pickford? Lord knows, that’s all I hear about these days! I must say, the wander that my mind went on was stopped dead in its tracks when, following that training session, I was told by the Academy founder how much it would cost for my son to play for that season.
ALLOWED
I nearly spat my Lucozade out. My first thought was, can everyone afford this? What if I had more kids that wanted to play? Who helps with this cost? Does the FA know about this? How has this been allowed to go on? I legitimately couldn’t believe that the likes of Sterling, Tangaga, Rashford and whoever else you want to name have been faced with this. No wonder it’s taken us so long to look consistent at the national level. Financially, the grassroots would seem to be all over the
place.A deep dive into costs for grassroots football up and down the country has since shown me there is a consistent financial theme running through the game and it doesn’t bode for a positive continuation of the recent successes we’ve seen in the last World Cup and this years Euro Championship. Talking to the founder of Footstepz Football Academy, Yomi Adu, pictured below, he explained that he charges as little as possible, but the costs are far from enticing for parents who want their children to explore a love of the game. He said: “I have been coaching and mentoring up to 70 young people from Waltham Forest per week, as an unpaid volunteer for the last five years, with various local youth teams. “After my own son showed a keen interest to play for a team. I, too, was truly shocked at the cost involved for my son to join a local team, at £380 at that time. I didn’t remember that to be the case when I was a young player myself. “This was until I realised the costs involved to run youth teams, such as: training facilities, training equipment, team kits, matchday pitch (hire per team), referee fees, League and FA affiliation costs, public liability/ personal accident insurance, and this before any coaches/ staffing costs.” Adu’s teams are based in east London’s Waltham Forest where a match on an artificial pitch at Salisbury Hall Playing
Fields in Chingford costs £306 at peak times, such as the weekend. Commenting on the challenges local clubs face, in a recent article in Waltham Forest’s local paper, Steven Hodges, chairman of AFC Leyton said: “Last year, for training, the price for us went up to £135 an hour, when it was previously around £80, during the middle of a pandemic.
VOLUNTEER
“We are a charity football club that focuses on female development. We get fees from parents and whatever grants we can get, but we are non-profit. “The only people that get paid are the coaches, because we get the best coaches we can, everyone else is a volunteer.” Tapping into the value of engaging positively with the next
generation, Adu’s vision for Footstepz Academy goes further than just coaching talented footballers. He enthused: “I decided to set the organisation up firstly because of my own life experiences. Having come through a tough childhood, football and sport has provided me with so much, in the way of confidence, discipling, social skills and friends, and has always been an outlet and way to express myself in a positive environment. “I’m passionate about the importance and part that sport plays in the lives of young people. Also, as a father of four children, I have been heartbroken with the number of murders and violent incidents that have, sadly, become a part of daily life in my local area and throughout the capital. “Only a few months ago, a boy of 17 was tragically gunned down, literally outside of my home. It was at this point I decided I needed to do something for the young people in my community. “Footstepz CIC was created in May 2021, to tackle mental illness, youth crime and promote good health and well-being in our young people. “We are a not-for-profit youth organisation that aims to build stronger communities by bringing sport (primarily football) to
children from all backgrounds. Fundamentally Footstepz aims to help create pathways and opportunities for young people in disadvantaged areas of London either via our youth teams (Footstepz Football Academy), afterschool clubs, holiday clubs and open development sessions. “One of the most important things in setting up the football academy was that it was affordable and open to all children, no matter their background.
COMPETITIVE
“And we currently offer one of the most competitive packages in Waltham Forest for our registered players. “Our biggest need at this moment is to secure funding and sponsorship to make it possible to subsidise season costs in the coming seasons for our kids, many of which are from low-income families.” If we’re going to see more Chalobahs and Tangangas coming through, the grassroots of the game will need greater financial support. Over the course of this season the Voice of Sport will be looking into how this can happen.
Have you found it difficult to find a team for your child because of the costs? Let us know.