Supporting our young person with his football dreams

A passion for football

Foster Carers provide vital support and guidance for young people as they grow and develop into the young adults they are becoming. Read how the pair help their young person pursue his football dreams.

When our young person arrived with us, he was playing for a football team local to where he had been previously living. He had spent four years at the club, so it was important to ensure he could continue playing for the same team, as he had built friendships with the coaches, players, and other parents. We made the 1hr 30-minute round trip each week for training and then games at the weekend. After two more seasons, the team disbanded, which was a real shame and a difficult process to work through with our young person.  

How we support him

We have supported our young person by offering as many new experiences as possible, such as attending soccer schools and training events at Real Madrid (in Madrid), West Ham, Southampton, Norwich City, and Crystal Palace. These experiences involve training with new coaches and new peers each time, which has really helped our young person develop their resilience and confidence.  

We encourage our young person to believe in himself and put himself out there, which has taken great confidence on his behalf. He has attended trials at local teams from some outstanding teams across several towns. All of which have resulted in offers for different levels of football.  

Making memories 

We have also been encouraging him to push through the challenges he faces, which can arise when playing with a large group of peers of a similar age. We make sure to take his lead on what he would like to attend and help him balance a busy schedule with rest and social events to decompress from the pressures of sports. Whatever the future holds in sporting for our young person, we hope that the experiences he has had and memories he has made will be looked back at fondly. There is so much he has learnt and developed as an individual through playing team sports that have helped mould him into the young man he is becoming. 

Our young person has also been pursuing other sports, such as snooker and billiards, so he attends weekly coaching for these. This is a really different environment to the football field and is helping to develop more skills that can be taken into later life, such as forward-thinking and taking time to consider options before committing.      

Could you provide that pivotal support by becoming a foster carer? Get in touch with us here - Contact Us | Nexus Fostering