Port Vale FC have demonstrated their commitment to going the extra mile in delivering LFE’s apprenticeship programme and developing skills for life.
Their in-house MasterChef competition was held back in October at Vale Park, with five members of the Valiants U18 squad going head-to-head in a bid to take home the kitchen’s bragging rights.
The five apprentices were split into pairs, leaving goalkeeper Aaron Davies with the task of competing on his own. The groups were given a dish to make with detailed instructions before presenting their dishes to a group of board members, and after tasting, Aaron was crowned MasterChef.
Following the event, Port Vale’s Head of Education Matthew Meredith spoke discussed the importance of apprentices learning skills that they can take into life outside of football. “It was a fantastic event, which allowed for the lads to develop a key life skill in practising their cooking skills under the supervision of our head chef Barry Connolly. At Port Vale Academy, we pride ourselves on facilitating opportunities to learn outside the classroom.”
Health screening sessions held annually is another example of where the apprentices can learn skills to put into practice. The young players perform a series of both physical and mental health tests on members of the academy staff, such as the Warwick-Edinburgh wellbeing scale, resting heart rate, BMI, and blood pressure.
BTEC Tutor, Robert Hare, said: “Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice. On Friday the scholars did just this. The fitness and wellbeing testing session encouraged scholars to become fitness professionals for the day and administer a mixture of testing for both physical and mental fitness. This ranged from blood pressure checks to body fat analysis and stress questionnaires. They were then able to develop hands on practical experience in offering feedback and recommendations to clients to help improve their overall health and well-being.”
LFE supports the fantastic work clubs like Port Vale do by providing tailored and specific personal development and life skills sessions in clubs. Over the past 20 years, LFE has delivered over 7,500 workshops, reaching in excess of 150,000 people in the process.
