Stevie goes back to his roots
Steven Gerrard went back to his roots this week when he attended football camps organised by the Steven Gerrard Foundation (SGF) held in his childhood home of Huyton.
With the help of old coach and friend, Hugh McAuley, the first of many SGF camps took place at the Huyton Arts and Sports Centre for Learning.
Over 100 children were handpicked to attend by teachers, youth leaders and social workers from a range of different schools and local organisations, all from a variety of different backgrounds and abilities.
And the Liverpool skipper recruited the help of two of his teammates, Jonjo Shelvey and Martin Kelly, as the trio got involved in training, signed autographs and offered advice to the youngsters.
"Huyton is where I'm from and there's nothing more pleasing than to come back and be with the kids," Gerrard told Liverpoolfc.com. "They all look like they are enjoying it.
"It's slightly different to the stuff the Foundation has done recently but because the kids are off school and they have nothing to do, we thought we'd put on a coaching school for them for four or five days and it's going really well so far.
"It's free of charge to come here and the mums and dads can go away and leave the kids knowing they are in safe hands and getting good coaching.
"I was in their shoes when I was a little boy and I used to love nothing better than going down to Melwood and getting autographs from the first team. I've brought Shelvey and Kelly down today and it's great to see the kids' faces when they arrived.
"I mentioned to Hugh McAuley that I would like to do a coaching school in Huyton. We went and met with Knowsley Council and Knowsley Housing Trust and they were very helpful. They have helped us with sponsorship and have been fantastic. They've done all the hard work really.
"They hand-picked over 100 kids to come. These are kids who deserve to be here, kids who have done well in school and kids who are in a position where maybe they cannot afford to be coached for four or five days."
The SGF are looking to run the Academy on an annual basis and offer as many children as possible the opportunity to learn more about the sport and how to improve their footballing abilities.
For more information, please visit the Steven Gerrard Foundation's official site. To learn more about Hugh McAuley's Academys, click here>>
Scroll down to see more fantastic pictures from the camps.
