9th September 2009
Teamwork, communication and discipline are the goals – if you’ll excuse the pun – in a Football Academy headed up by former Arsenal and England player, Ian Wright, at the Portland Young Offenders Institution in Dorset.
With high reoffending rates among 18-24 year olds who are sent to prison in England, the great equalizer – soccer – is the means through which the young men are being taught discipline, team work, pride in achievement, and above all, motivation towards building a better future for themselves.
Ian Wright is himself a positive role model: having spent 14 days in prison when he was young for traffic offences, he made a decision to never end up back there. Instead, he focused his energies and determination on his football talent – and the rest, as they say, is history.
Follow the action over the 6-part series, Football Behind Bars, on Sky 1 - from Monday 7th Sept at 10pm.
Read more here in the Evening Herald.
Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.