Every primary school class in Glasgow will receive a brand new football after a fundraising initiative from their fellow pupils called 'Balls For All'.
It comes after a charity drive from On The Ball Academy in partnership with the Glasgow City Council’s education department and their aim was to raise £15,000 to gift 1,095 footballs in a bid to create a legacy from Scotland’s Euro 2024 campaign which kicks off later this month.
That is equal to the distance between Glasgow and Munich and part of the fundraising saw more than 100 kids dribble footballs from Scotstoun to Hampden along with family members. It was also backed by Celtic and Rangers heroes such as Scott Brown, Ryan Christie, Connor Goldson, James Forrest and Greg Taylor.
Goldson donated a signed shirt while Taylor also gifted a signed pair of boots and both of those offerings have helped make the ambition of raising the money become a reality and they've now got to work providing the footballs since reaching the goal they had set for themselves.
READ MORE: Paisley Scotland fan sets off on 1,000 mile walk for charity
On The Ball will also host a football festival for Primary 7 kids across Glasgow next on the day Scotland face Germany in their opening game on Friday, June 14. That will see more 600 kids be involved with 150 of them being young people with disabilities or other additional support needs.
The initiative is something that is close to the heart of On The Ball founder Ryan Docherty, who came through the youth ranks at Celtic and currently works as a first team coach at Pollok as well as previously playing for teams such as Queen’s Park and Dundee United.
He’s hopeful that this can help keep people off the streets and involved in the sport and he said: “There will be a lot of passion and enthusiasm from young Glaswegians for football this summer – we don’t want anything to stand in the way of that.
“There are a lot of circumstances that can cause young people to take the wrong path. Through football, we want to support the community and help to transform lives, helping children across Glasgow overcome the challenges they face.
“Giving kids a ball seems like a small gesture, but resources are stretched and these balls will be played with by thousands and thousands of kids, many of whom come from underprivileged backgrounds. This is opening the door to the positive life experiences football can bring, it’s about so much more than just about finding the next Andy Robertson – although that would be great too!”
The football academy works closely with their local communities and provide 1000 hours of coaching for free each year, while they have helped push youngsters towards the professional game with many of them going on to join the pro youth academies at Celtic and Rangers among others.
The academy also launched an employability programme to help school leavers find jobs across Glasgow and also started a clothes collection that has donated more than 100 bags of cold weather football kit and boots to help local children who need it during the winter months.
The football initiative is just their latest charity drive and is something Docherty believes can help kids and their families throughout the city with their physical and mental health.
He continued: “We have developed this project through our unwavering commitment to supporting children and families throughout Glasgow to improve their mental and physical well-being and we are very grateful to Glasgow City Council Education department for their support, which will ensure that every single classroom in Glasgow has access to a football at the kick-off of Euro2024.”
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