As has become tradition during every half-term break, the West Ham United Academy hosted Holistic Hammers, a multi-sport and educational development day featuring a carousel of activities designed to support the growth and development of our schoolboy players.
During the most recent half-term, our young Hammers spent the day engaging in a mix of physical sessions, including yoga and parkour, alongside workshops on nutrition and psychology.
While developing elite athletes is central to the Academy’s mission, equal emphasis is placed on shaping well-rounded young people. As part of this holistic approach, internationally recognised criminologist Craig Pinkney, founder and director of SOLVE: The Centre for Youth Violence and Conflict, delivered sessions on youth violence, criminal exploitation, and conflict resolution.
Pinkney’s organisation, SOLVE, focuses on educating and mentoring young people, offering therapeutic support to reduce the risk of involvement in criminal activity. Part of its work includes visiting Premier League clubs and Academies to deliver age-appropriate workshops that help players understand how easily young people can become drawn into criminal exploitation, and the importance of recognising the warning signs before it happens.
“I want to stop the assumption that this kind of education is only for young individuals that are doing the wrong thing or might do the wrong thing,” Pinkney explained. “It’s important for all, because it's those good kids who I find in my work as a criminologist, the ones coming from good homes, affluent backgrounds, who are getting caught up in society's problems, and that's why the education aspect for me is really important.
Tailoring his message to each age group, Pinkney shared the story of a young person he had once worked with, someone with no previous offences who became involved in drug activity and, ultimately, received a life sentence for murder.
“I hope that the story helps them understand their choices better,” he continued. “I hope they understand their privilege, I hope they understand accountability, and whilst they're developing as young athletes, that they don't assume that just because they're here at this football club it's a given right. It’s about how they earn it safely, how they keep themselves and their friendship groups safe, and, most importantly, about their psychological and emotional wellbeing.”
Between sessions at Chadwell Heath Training Ground, the young Hammers travelled by minibus to the London Parkour School in Canary Wharf, an energetic break from football that also developed skills which can be transferred back onto the pitch such as coordination, communication, positioning and balance.
“There’s a lot of diversity in what we do, and that’s what Holistic Hammers is all about,” said Catherine Stidwill, Academy Player Care Officer. “Our objective with Holistic Hammers is to make it as wide-ranging as possible. We include aspects from all of our departments. We had psychology and nutrition workshops; two really important areas as they grow up to be athletes.”
In line with the Academy’s year-round commitment to empowering Player Voice, all schoolboys and parents were invited to complete feedback forms to share what they learned and what kind of activities they would like to engage in going forward.
“On those forms we want to see what they’ve taken from the sessions,” Stidwill added. “Whether it's ‘I’ve learned to be more respectful of my peers’, ‘I’ve learned to treat everybody how I'd like to be treated’, or ‘I need to think before I speak’.
“An important aspect for us is seeing the different age groups working together, Under-11s teaming up with Under-12s, the Under-9s and the Under-10s, and so on.
“We’ve got to remember that although they’re young athletes, first and foremost, we’re working with children. We want to make sure they’ve learned something and taken something away from the day. That’s the most important thing.”
