New Parks Football Session Helps Participant Fall Back In Love With Sport
- Rogers attends the adult sessions in New Parks every Tuesday and Thursday evening
- The session has been running since the opening of the Cruyff Court in the area
- The friendly atmosphere keeps participants returning, he says
- Participants had the opportunity to attend LCFC Training Ground for one of their sessions
A Leicester City in the Community session has helped one participant reignite their passion for football.
Rogers, an accountant from Leicester, stopped playing football with his team in a competitive league as the atmosphere seemed unfriendly.
However, since discovering the over 35s session delivered by Leicester City in the Community, he is once again playing the sport that he is passionate about.
“We found that we were playing against a lot of players who were quite hot-headed,” Rogers said. “It got to a point where I started to not enjoy it, so I stopped playing for a while.
“Then I found out about this session – it’s a lot more friendly, you see the same people and we all have a lot in common.
“It’s the mentality – you still have that competitive nature; everyone still wants to win. But you’ve got people being honest when they’ve committed a foul.
“If there is any kind of conflict, people shake hands at the end of the game and smile about it, which is what we want when we leave the football pitch.”
The Social Football session takes place at New Parks Cruyff Court every Tuesday and Thursday evening, and is open to those over the age of 18.
Free of charge, adults are able to turn up and play a game of football for an hour, with the aim of improving mental wellbeing through physical activity.
As an office worker, Vandy has seen numerous benefits for both his mental and physical health from attending, especially after the end of COVID-19 restrictions.
Speaking at a one-off session at LCFC Training Ground in Seagrave, Vandy opened up about how much the session has helped him.
“I’m an accountant, so I sit behind a desk for 40 hours a week,” he explained. “So, I need to be active, but I only like doing it through competitive sport.
“During COVID-19, I was putting in 60 hours a week at work, and I put on a lot of weight, about 15 kilograms. It’s dropped off now!
“Football was getting a bit stale for me, but the session has made me fall back in love with football again.”
Leicester City in the Community run numerous sessions in the New Parks area of the city, for both under 18s and adults.
Designed to support both physical health and mental wellbeing, LCitC’s MatchFit programme has a variety of activities available to promote healthy lifestyles.
View the impact of Leicester City in the Community’s work in New Parks, HERE.
Book yourself onto one of the many MatchFit sessions by visiting: www.participant.co.uk/lcfc/searches/20192/960.aspx