Swansea City AFC Foundation represented in Premier League Kicks Truce Tournament 2024
Swansea City AFC Foundation were represented in the Under-18 girls’ Premier League Kicks Truce Tournament in Belgium earlier this month.
Held in the historic town of Ypres, the tournament’s focus was the Christmas Day Truce of 1914.
One that day, amid the horrors of the trenches in the First World War, soldiers on opposing sides along various sections of the front reportedly laid down their weapons on December 25 to play football and exchange gifts.
Delivered by the Premier League Charitable Fund, the Premier League Kicks Truce Tournament is one of the competition elements of the Premier League’s community programme, Premier League Kicks, and celebrates the league’s commitment to increasing opportunities for girls and young women to play the game.
The Swans Foundation took a team of eight girls to the three-day event in Belgium, where participants took part in educational and cultural activities to learn about the sacrifices made by servicemen and women in the First World War.
The team went to an evening ceremony at the Menin Gate to commemorate the fallen, and took part in an immersive experience of the trench conditions suffered by the soldiers.
Along with fellow participants from Chelsea Foundation, Saints Foundation and The Albion Foundation, the team also visited the monument commemorating the Christmas Truce, the site where soldiers came out of the trenches to play football, and draped scarves in a mark of respect.
At the Menin Gate ceremony, following the sounding of the Last Post, poppy wreaths were laid by participants on behalf of Swansea City AFC Foundation.
“As a Foundation we’re honoured to have had the opportunity to bring a team here to Belgium for this amazing experience,” said Craig Richards, youth engagement manager at Swansea City AFC Foundation.
“It’s a once in a lifetime experience which all our participants, and us as coaches, have taken a lot from. We’ve learned so much about a period of history which is so important to remember.
“It always makes us proud to be able to give opportunities like this one to our participants, so we thank the Premier League Charitable Fund for inviting us.
“Our participants have represented us, Swansea City and Wales brilliantly, on and off the pitch, and we hope that when they get home they tell their families everything they’ve learned on the trip.”
Paige Leadbeater, who has been part of the Swans Foundation’s Premier League Kicks programme for the last two years, had never been on a trip outside of the United Kingdom, making this an extra special journey for her.
“I was very happy and shocked to learn I was coming on the trip,” said Paige.
“I’ve never had a passport before, so in the space of five weeks I had to get everything I needed.
“I got told on the bus on the way home from college, because my dad couldn’t hold the excitement in any longer. I was almost speechless that I had this opportunity to go.
“I started my journey through the normal Premier League Kicks sessions about two years ago. Then I progressed to going to two Premier League Kicks Cups, started volunteering and then got invited to come to the Truce Tournament, which has been an amazing opportunity.
“It's really exciting to put on the Swansea top. And it's not just Swansea we're representing, it's Wales too - it's really important that we are respectful.
“It's a whole different opportunity that some people don’t get to have, so I feel really lucky.
“I have four siblings. I kind of feel like being here is for them too because now I can go home and show my family and all my friends what I've seen and what my perspective of that is, and maybe through the photos they can see what I was seeing.
“It's really important that they get to see it too because they’ve helped me with this opportunity, they’ve got everything ready for me to get me to here.
“Back when I started playing football girls didn’t have as many opportunities as the boys did. Now we get that same treatment. It’s really important.
“Premier League Kicks means so much. It's so meaningful to me. I've been able to experience so much. The coaches have done so much for us and asking us to come on this trip means a lot.”