04 May 2018
Chelsea FC joins forces with San Francisco 49ers for educational programme for children
BY Tom Walker
The Chelsea Foundation, run by the English Premier League club Chelsea FC, has joined forces with the National Football League’s (NFL) San Francisco 49ers to launch an educational programme for young people.
The partnership will see the Chelsea Foundation’s education department partner with the 49ers EDU and work together to bring science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) to local children.
Teachers from 49ers EDU recently travelled to Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium to develop and execute a two-day programme aimed at inspiring children aged nine to 10 to explore the concepts of STEM, as it relates to the game of American football.
The initiative will see more than 100 children from London learn about the evolution of football equipment and the similarities to those used in American football, as well as the physics involved in sport and a general introduction to the NFL and American football as a whole.
Deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in London, Lewis Lukens, said: "It is great what they are doing here. They are using sport, American or English football, to show the kids how it impacts on their daily lives and how science, technology, engineering and maths is used within sport.
"Sport allows you to reach out to young people in a way you can’t always do through education alone, so it is fantastic to see both organisations reaching out and supporting their communities."
Activities at the event included learning about the engineering of an American football, comparing old football boots to their modern equivalents and the coding and programming of an electronic ball.
Chelsea Foundation head of education, Matt Mead added: "We take STEM learning and combine it with American football and our own game, for the benefit of the children.
"To be able to bring the two teams together and share knowledge and expertise has been a great experience and this is hopefully the start of an exciting partnership.
"We hope the children go home inspired by what they have learned here. STEM is a critical subject and by 2020, it is believed that 80 per cent of jobs will require some form of STEM related skills."
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