Big Ideas took part in an exciting new project this summer when the Premier League invited us to create a children’s activity book focusing on inspiring examples of people with South Asian heritage working in football.
The book was given to children and families who attended an Emerging Talent Festival in Loughborough so that everyone could see the range of career opportunities available within the world of football.
Working with the Premier League, we had exclusive access to three fantastic role models, Natasha Patel from Southampton F.C. Academy, Senior Physiotherapist Zubair Haleem from Arsenal F.C. and Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. rising star Kamran Kandola.
The book is aimed at 8-10 year olds and has All Star profiles and ‘Day in the Life’ features. The team had a great time creating activities which include a special quiz “Get Smart with Dev” authored by Sky Sports journalist and campaigner Dev Trehan, the All Stars personality test, challenges and other fun activities. Each of the All Stars has their own pull out poster.
Seeing the book for the first time, Dev Trehan reflected,
“Rarely have we seen British South Asians in football profiled like this. For me personally it’s a huge source of pride to be involved in a book like this. I’m really passionate about trying to inspire the next generation of talent and I’m sure this really will capture the imagination and will add to the good work going on in their space. I never had a chance to consume content like this when I was a kid.”
A tight turnaround to get this into the hands of the target audience was rewarded by some great feedback from parents of the young players.
“They need things like this to be inspired. Someone they can look to for the future.”
“I’ve taken one for my daughter, she’s going to love it.”
“I think I’m going to enjoy it as much as they will.”
And, in a first for Big Ideas, Sky Sports featured our work on their website!