They were wearing their normal shoes and having to play on the concrete netball court at Kingsbury High School rather than on turf.
So Brent businessmen and brothers Nicholas and Andre Smith arranged proper kits for them – and even a professional women’s coach to lick them into shape on the playing field.
Now the girls’ team at Kingsbury High is basking in glory — thanks to Nicholas and Andre.
“Many girls were playing in their regular school shoes,” Nicholas explained. “We watched them on concrete courts because they had no soccer boots which prevented them using the grass fields that the boys were playing on.
“So we provided boots, shin pads and even trophies to encourage girls with the most improvement and best attendance.”
The brothers, who devised social media app One Touch Football to help connect football players, teams, and parents in underserved communities, were finalists for the Barclays and Foundervine Black Entrepreneur Accelerator in 2023.
They developed the app during lockdown in 2020 to promote a healthier lifestyle through sports for both boys and girls.
One Touch Football is also helping schools overcome challenges in making sport part of the curriculum.
A ‘community engagement’ project was started at Kingsbury High in October to help girls’ into football and “inspire the next generation” of female soccer stars.
Kingsbury High was also one of two schools along with Saracens in Colindale chosen last year for a programme using sport to reduce absenteeism and the risk of pupils being expelled.
Year 6 pupils from feeder primary schools waiting to join the secondaries are invited to sports ‘taster’ sessions then enrolled into the programme when they go into Year 7, with sports activities, breakfast clubs and weekly one-to-one mentoring. This leads to team building with outdoor activities and a chance to travel outside their local community.
The programme has raised school attendance up by half and rising, while also reducing detentions by 60%.
