Aberdeen Football Club player Angus MacDonald and Aberdeen FC Community Trust (AFCCT) visited pupils at Northfield Academy to deliver refurbished football boots on Thursday 31 October. The visit was a part of a CIF initiative called Re-Kicks that aims to provide ‘free kicks’ to budding young players in Aberdeen helping them to feel pitch ready.
A call for old football boots was shared at the end of last season with a range of sizes being generously donated to the cause which were then sent to CIF to repair. The boots are cleaned and regenerated into match-ready pairs and sent back to organisations that are included in the initiative. Thanks to CIF, Aberdeen Football Club Community Trust received 50 pairs of boots to send out to partner schools.
During his visit to the academy, Angus MacDonald got a chance to see the project in full swing with the Northfield pupils playing a football match. Following the football match, the pupils then had an opportunity to ask the centre-back about his footballing career. The questions ranged from childhood stories to experiencing the atmosphere at Aberdeen FC’s home, Pittodrie Stadium.
Councillor Martin Greig, the Convener of Education and Children’s Services Committee, said: “Research has shown that young people feel more confident when they are wearing the right kit, and the refurbished football boots will enable more young people at Northfield Academy to enjoy football. Who knows, it might even lead a pupil going on to become a future international footballer, like former Northfield Academy pupils Martin Boyle and Rachael Boyle (nee Small).”
AFCCT is grateful for the opportunity from CIF to give the gift of football to partner schools with this Re-Kicks project. A huge thank you to CIF for their continued support on this initiative.
To find out more information, contact AFCCT at: info@afcct.org