Wellington Phoenix Football Academy in New Zealand have announced that Hammer Winston Reid will sponsor two scholarships a year to the Phoenix’ Academy beginning in 2015. One scholarship is for a full football and residential scholarship at Scots College in Wellington and the other is for school and football tuition at any of the three schools in the Academy programme.
Wellington Phoenix General Manager David Dome said the partnership had its genesis in the Hammers Football United New Zealand Tour. “When Winston was here with West Ham in July last year he expressed an interest in giving something back and helping promising New Zealand football talent. At that time, we made contact with Aotearoa Football Charitable Trust that he and Leo Bertos have an association with. We started a relationship then and have an on-going association with them and will continue to support them and the excellent work they do in Maori football. These scholarships will draw on that programme and will look at any other promising players from around the country who may need some financial assistance to be part of our Academy. If we find the next Winston Reid out of all this then we’d all be very happy!”
Winston Reid said
“I am very proud of my heritage and country of birth. I’ve worked hard to get where I am, but I’ve also been blessed in my career and this is in a small way is my chance to give something back. I want to encourage and give a bit of a hand to those football players who don’t have too much and need a little bit of assistance along the way.We talked about this with the Phoenix when I was in New Zealand last July and I’m really pleased to be able to announce this now.”
Good for him,it needs a few more remembering how they all came from working backgrounds and had a gift which made them rich and putting something back into the game,most of the African players do just that now some of the British and European players need to do it to.
Instead of comic relief let’s have rich footballers relief ?