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Leicester Nirvana FC’s Ivan Liburd has seen first-hand what grassroots football can do for young people at risk of being drawn into serious crime.
When local authorities asked if he would take on a young person with a history of carrying knives as part of a pilot scheme, Liburd agreed to let him help with Saturday morning training sessions. “He was a habitual knife carrier who had been caught with a knife multiple times,” says Liburd. “But he came to me, worked with me, helped out with the young players. By the end he was walking there in the rain, running around with the kids, laughing – totally dedicated.”
The change was so marked that police could hardly believe it was the same person. “They said: ‘What? He came to training voluntarily?’” Liburd recalled. “I said: ‘Yes.’ Because these young people just react differently when they’re in the community, with someone who’s not perceived as a threat to them.”
