Hammers support Enterprise team ahead of final

Alex Pike and Jake Eggleton gave their support to the Foundation’s Enterprise team
Development Squad duo Alex Pike and Jake Eggleton visited the West Ham United Foundation’s Premier League Enterprise team at the Boleyn Ground ahead of the much anticipated final this week.

Students from Stepney Green Maths, Computing and Science College will be representing the Club at the Premier League Enterprise Challenge Final in central London on Wednesday 9 March and the Hammers pair were keen to see how their presentation was coming along.
 
With 29 school groups representing Premier League and Football League clubs up and down the country, the Hammers will go head-to-head in pitching their ideas to a panel of judges from the world of sport and business. 
 
The group presented their ideas to the players who offered them feedback on where they might look to improve. Pike, who scored the last ever U21 goal at the Boleyn against Arsenal late last year, was impressed with the wannabe entrepreneur’s innovative ideas.
 
He said: “It was really good. It was nice to see the kid’s presentation; they’ve clearly got some good ideas and a lot of work has obviously been put into it. For us to be able to come down and give them a bit of our time is great, I really enjoyed it and had a good time.

“It’s always good to support worthy causes, and in the West Ham United Foundation and Sport’s Relief, they’re both very two very important charities that do a lot of good work.”

The Premier League Enterprise challenge has the power to change lives and none more so than for the tournament’s former winners from 2014. Having come through the project with the WHU Foundation, they are now acting as mentors for this year’s challengers.
 
2014 Enterprise Challenge winner Sayed Ashrabul said of the group’s preparation: “They’ve really put the hard work in and have been really creative! I think having the players down today was a real confidence boost for them which they can take into the final.

"The Premier League Enterprise programme has opened so many doors for me that would not have been possible prior to being involved. I keep reminding the guys that they too can achieve great things off the back of this!”
 
The business and skills based challenge is run by the Premier League and Sport Relief, and this year tasked pupils with working on a strategy to help encourage fans to spend more time at stadiums on matchdays. The final is set to take place at Altitude 360 on Wednesday 9 March.