An initiative which connects Inglewood United’s juniors with its first team, and vice versa, is building a sense of community and belonging throughout the club. On weeknights throughout the winter members of the senior squad have freely been giving their time to get to know and train the clubs’ emerging stars in a fun, friendly environment.

The Hero Program, which kicked off earlier in the year, has been a smash hit with the youngsters. “It’s refreshing for the players to listen to a different perspective,” said Andrew Barnes, Under-14s Development coach. “The guys share with the boys a bit about themselves and how they got to where they are, then when start kicking balls around the level of intensity really pick-ups.”

Club captain Jovo Pavlovic, who has played professionally in Bosnia, Indonesia and Hong Kong, has thoroughly enjoyed his role as a mentor. “I felt great getting the chance to pass on my experience and knowledge to kids who are willing to learn, train and enjoy themselves,” he said. “It’s a wonderful program, when I was a kid I didn’t get close to anything like it.”

“The kids get the opportunity to see and hear from us, the older boys, in person,” Pavlovic continued. “From that they get that little bit more motivation when it comes to training and, hopefully, playing.” In addition to helping with juniors’ development, the program provides first team players a greater understanding of what goes on at the club, especially amongst the younger age groups.

And for the juniors, the most important aspects of the Hero Program don’t necessarily take place at training. “It’s helping create an important link between the junior players and the senior team,” Barnes commented. “When a player goes to a game on the Saturday they’ll recognise the player that trained them during the week and cheer them on.”

More photos in the Hero photo gallery: Click Here