Celebrities and footballers have such a high profile with youngsters and especially when one used to go to the same school as you. It seems to give a much closer link with the pupils and almost makes the person one of them. The actions of such people make such a huge difference to youngsters who are so much influenced by the life of these celebrities hence the term social influencers.
Raheem Sterling used to attend Copland Community School in Wembley, this has since changed its name to Ark Elvin Academy. Sterling grew up in the shadow of Wembley dreaming of playing there as a footballer. Manchester City were struggling to sell their allocation of tickets for their FA Cup semi final game at Wembley against Brighton today at 5.30pm. Raheem Sterling put in a request to buy 550 tickets so that all the pupils from his old school could go along and watch. Not only did he buy the tickets but he invited them to City’s training ground where he met them. He was reported as saying:
It is great to be able to give these students the chance to watch a game at Wembley,” Sterling said. “I grew up right next door to the stadium and would dream of one day playing in a cup final or even representing my country there. This is a great opportunity to give back to the community that helped me get to where I am.”
I bet that every single one of the pupils who attend the game will have been absolutely blown away by this offer, a chance that many of them could only have dreamt of. Going to Wembley to watch their hero in action. There has been much bad press about Raheem Sterling in the past but recently his actions have certainly spoken louder than words. He has been a major voice in the fight against racism in football and now this. The memories for these pupils will stay with them forever and hopefully reinforce the positivity of sport. We will certainly hear the cheer from them if he scores!!
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