Former Premier League chairman Sir Dave Richards joined Sheffield Wednesday footballers Fernando Forestieri and Modou Sougou and Sheffield Sharks basketball team captain Mike Tuck to officially open a local school's new artificial grass pitch.
In one of the most deprived areas of Sheffield, Valley Park Community School has more than 450 pupils and 20 languages spoken, with children forced take lessons in corridors.
But the kids show colour, fun and laughter always shine through, when they dreamed up their own design for a vivid yellow and red striped 3G artificial grass pitch and playzone. Then the Football Foundation and UK sports surface giant SIS Pitches stepped in to make it a reality.
Fernando, Modou and Mike stopped by during a PE lesson and could not resist joining in to the delight of the pupils. Fernando took part in a passing drill, while Modou took great delight in helping the budding young footballers improve their shooting skills.
Towering 6'7" Canadian basketball star Mike wowed the kids with his ball juggling skills and gave tips on how to keep the ball spinning on one finger!
The new pitch, which sits at the centre of the school's playground, gave a perfect demonstration of its versatility as it shrugged off a rain-soaked day that had left surrounding natural grass pitches out-of-play. The soft, safe, easy-care surface has pupils benefitting from increased numbers of PE and extra-curricular sessions in a range of sports, including football.
Cumbria based SIS Pitches design, manufacture and build sports surfaces for a wide range of sporting venues, from international stadiums to community projects. They were approached by the Football Foundation to help the school on a pro bono basis.
The overcrowded school is in one of Sheffield's areas of high deprivation and does not have the budget to fulfil all its needs. Despite this, the school has doubled the level of pupils meeting the top grade in reading, writing and maths since 2013 and the atmosphere crackles with enthusiasm and laughter.
Sir Dave Richards, a former Sheffield Wednesday Chairman, said: "The pitch at Valley Park is just fantastic and it was wonderful to see so many youngsters enjoying playing. As a Sheffield man I know how much sport means to people in this neck of the woods, so a special thanks must go to SIS and the Football Foundation for making this happen."
Valley Park Head Teacher Michele Nott Valley, said: "Credit must go to SIS, and the Football Foundation, because without their generosity we definitely would not have been able to buy a pitch of this quality."
Fernando Foresteri, said: "The pitch is brilliant! The kids were telling me that they want to play on it all the time and their teacher said that the school can now put on lots of after school activities too, so it is obvious that the pitch will have a really positive impact on sport at Valley Park. To think that they got it for free from SIS is just amazing – well done to them and the Football Foundation."
Mike Tuck, said: "This pitch is so flexible, we were playing football and basketball on it and you could see that the kids absolutely loved it and I'm in no doubt that they will make great use of it."
SIS are part of a joint Framework Agreement, which was developed by the Football Foundation, The FA, Rugby Football Union, England Hockey and Sport England to ensure that the procurement, manufacture and installation of new 3G AGPs always represents the best value-for-money and quality.
