Story added: 14th September 2022

14-year-old Ashton has been a participant of the ‘On Track’ programme since March 2022

Ashton currently lives with his nine siblings with ages ranging from four to twenty-one, which has become increasingly difficult for him as he has gotten older.

On occasions, Ashton has gotten into physical altercations with his siblings, requiring their father to step in and separate them as they are now too strong for their mother.

Ashton has also struggled with his mental health the past 12 months, which has led to issues with regulating his emotions and behaviour.

After a pattern of poor behaviour in school, he was permanently excluded, which further damaged his relationships with his friends and family. Shortly after this, his referral came to the Foundation via Norfolk County Council.

Starting the intervention, three target outcomes were set:

• to engage in positive activities
• engage in activities to regain confidence loss
• manage emotion and anger felt towards himself

After finding common ground with a love of football, the 12-week intervention started with using football as the hook of engaging in positive activities, with the ambition of being able to manage emotion and identifying triggers both before and during the one-to-one sessions.

At first, Ashton was not particularly talkative so developing a rapport was crucial to increasing engagement.

Ryan, our ‘On-Track’ Officer, identified this and proposed informal discussions prior to the physical activity begun. During these they would talk about how things have been at home, his behaviour, and what he could do to improve what had gone wrong by identifying triggers, as well as methods he could use to vent his frustrations in a healthier way.

Throughout the weekly sessions, Ashton’s engagement, confidence, and skills all soared.

Session variety was key to this as it ensured he gave maximum effort and avoided tedium. As a result of this, the professional relationship developed, allowing for greater in-depth discussions regarding his wellbeing and emotional state throughout the week before and during the sessions.

As the sessions continued, Ryan noticed Ashton communicated more, looked happier and his footballing abilities improved to the point that he was invited to attend some of the Player Development Centre (PDC) sessions. This gave him a great boost in confidence and a feel-good factor about himself.

Ryan said, “Ashton was a really good player prior to the programme, but his development over the past 12 weeks was massive and warranted a chance to be involved with the best of his age”.

Ryan has noticed an all-round positive change in Ashton’s conduct as he is now much better at communicating openly about difficult subjects and identifying triggers, all of which have contributed to an improved work ethic and attitude, allowing him to freely enjoy and develop his Football.

Ashton’s father played a proactive role during the intervention, attending each session to monitor the impact the programme had on Ashton. He consistently reported back to Ryan regarding his progress at home and showed his appreciation towards Ryan:

“You’re an absolute star to Ashton, he thrives when seeing you.”

He added, “we would like to thank Ryan for all he has done for Ashton… not only for vastly improving Ashton’s football skills but helping him come out of his shell and express himself far more than before.

“He has learnt a lot and we cannot thank you enough not only for coaching him but for the kindness and understanding you have shown him.”

Ashton believes the programme has had a massive impact on his physical and mental wellbeing and is really looking forward to the prospect of being given a second chance in the PDC next year.