Meet Luke: A Kicks winner on and off the pitch

Over the course of lockdown, the LFC Foundation has hosted a variety of FIFA 20 experiences on both PlayStation and Xbox consoles for their participants who regularly attend their PL Kicks Sessions.

Luke participated in every experience provided by the Reds’ official charity, blowing the competition away in a series of impressive performances.

The young Red also competed on a national level through the Premier League Stay At Home Cup, representing the LFC Foundation against other club community foundations across the country.

In his age group, Luke defeated the opposition to become this year’s champion. 

Speaking of his success and time spent in lockdown, Luke said: “Winning the semi-final of the PL Tournament was my favourite moment as this was my most difficult fixture. 

“I also liked that we could see the Foundations’ league table after every round of matches, so that I could check my league position against my mates.

“It felt really good to win the Premier League competition. It's good to compete with the best.”

Luke has also been successful on the pitch during his time in the Kicks programme, making the jump to the U15s development team and representing LFC Foundation in multiple football fixtures and tournaments up and down the country.

Earlier this year, the youngster also took part in the Foundation's Kicks Football+ activities during the half-term holidays, a scheme giving Kicks participants the opportunity to take part in a variety of educational and key life-skills activities with local community partners.

Luke and his friends were chosen based on their behaviour, attendance, and merit over the course of their time on the Kicks programme, learning various new life skills from fire safety to nutritional cooking.

Tony Cosgrove, Premier League Kicks manager, said: "I'm really impressed and proud of Luke's achievements and his obvious gaming ability, but even more so about the way he conducted himself throughout all of the Foundation's recent FIFA opportunities. 

“He demonstrated a high level of sportsmanship throughout without boasting about his achievements.

“He was a great advocate for our PL Kicks programme and the LFC Foundation. To claim the national prize in his age category was an incredible accomplishment and I would like to pass on my congratulations to him.”

With the intentions of identifying where the LFC Foundation can improve for the future, the charity provided participants with a feedback opportunity following the competition’s conclusion. 

All participants who responded said that they wanted to participate in more FIFA events run by the LFC Foundation in the future and reported that they would recommend the FIFA league, tournament or festivals to their friends.

An average score of 4.56 out of five was recorded from the survey as nine participants (47 per cent of all those who took part) chose to rate their overall experience with the LFC Foundation. A full breakdown of the feedback report is available here.

"It was great to see that the participants had enjoyed the variety of FIFA opportunities we provided throughout lockdown,” said Tony.

“We now know that there is an appetite for Kicks participation beyond our football sessions and we look forward to providing more chances for a greater number of our participants, taking this data on board to improve what we do.”

Following the coronavirus outbreak, the LFC Foundation had to put their schools and community activities on hold in adherence with government guidelines and social distancing measures.

Instead through virtual sessions, the Foundation was able continue its engagement with participants left housebound and unable to take part in their weekly LFC Foundation activities.  

To find out more about the activities on offer at the LFC Foundation, click here.