Ini Umotong inspires students at St Christopher's School during their annual girls' football festival
Mintridge Bronze Football Programme with Ini Umotong
St Christopher’s School, April 2022
It was a great start to the weekend for Team Mintridge, as we attended St Christopher’s School for their annual football festival with the amazing Nigerian International footballer and a professional football player for Lewes football club, Ini Umotong. We were so excited for an afternoon of football, fun and matches with our very experienced inspirational role model.
With nearly 100 young women taking part in this year’s football festival, it was amazing for Ini to work with so many enthusiastic young footballers and show off a few tricks on the day too. Ini was very keen to speak to each of the young footballers about the power of football and the many opportunities that are in front of them if they continue taking part in the sport they love.
As the St John’s Wood football coaches delivered their football sessions with each of the groups, Ini moved around the stations taking part in the football sessions and challenging the girls to tackle her if they could (which they all loved!). It was great to see the girls working so hard to improve their football skills and show off a couple of their moves to Ini too.
After a quick cake break, it was time for the students to take part in their own mini-matches and put their skills to the test. With a whole host of supporters, friends and family members present, the girls loved taking part in the football challenges and Ini enjoyed joining some of the teams to help them out on the pitches.
It was a great afternoon of sport, fun and lots of football for the young women and their families and a great way for the school to showcase the power of sport. This was especially evident in the penalty shootouts that happened at the end of the day, where the students challenged the parents to save their shots and a few even managed to fire a couple of shots past Ini too!
To bring their day to a close, Ini worked with the teachers and coaching staff to present the young women in attendance with a signed certificate and medal as a memento of their day and also spent some time sharing her own journey through sport and what football has given her as a professional athlete. Even now, as Ini competes as a full-time footballer, she has been given the opportunity to study full scholarships in business and football and also follow a career in sport alongside her playing career, which was such a great message for the students to hear.
“If you love this game, there are so many opportunities for you to be involved in it and really thrive in this sport, you just need to stick at it and never give up!”
With a bit of time at the end of the day to spare, the students and parents took their opportunities to take lots of selfies with Ini and for her to sign their footballs and posters.
After a great day of football and a few more selfies, it was time for Team Mintridge to wrap up for the day and head into the rest of the weekend with a good soul feeling!
We had a fantastic day with the parents, staff, parents and students at St Christopher’s School for yet another very successful football tournament! If you would like to see the photos or video from the day, please contact the staff at St Christopher’s School.
Thank you for a wonderful day at St Christopher’s School. We can’t wait to see you next year!
Thanks
Team Mintridge
