Gaetano Berardi took part in a special online Premier League Primary Stars (PLPS) session recently with students from Christ Church Upper Armley Primary School as they discussed the topic of equality and respect.
The Leeds United defender was on hand ahead of a full day of training to meet with a number of classes from the local school via a Zoom call, with the youngsters prepped to find out more about his background, thoughts around teamwork, the importance of equality and how having respect for others is key to being a good person.
Some of the questions the children asked the 32-year-old included, why it’s important to try and adapt a positive attitude as much as possible, how you can make people valued, the importance of respecting the opposing team and referees during a match and the importance of treating people equally and supporting people who come from different backgrounds.
Following the online PLPS session, Berardi spoke to LUTV and said: “All of the questions were very connected because as we said throughout the call, it is always about having respect for other people. It doesn’t matter if someone is from a different country or if they have a different background, we need to show respect to get respect.
“For example, sometimes you can forget when you are celebrating at the end of a match about the opposition team but in those moments, it is good to show respect to them because we all go through those situations.
“I really enjoyed speaking with the children and their teachers and my main message was to respect people and be kind with them always.”
One of the teachers at Christ Church Primary School also wanted to send a message to the Leeds United star, who will leave at the end of this season, and she said: “I want to say a huge thank you for the time Gaetano spent with us and his willingness to speak to our children, it means so much to us and him being such a talented player, playing for Leeds United, it is huge to us and we really can’t thank him enough for his time and all of the fantastic answers he had for our students.”
The Leeds United Foundation deliver Premier League Primary Stars sessions as part of their education programme across schools in Leeds and further afield, supporting teachers with their delivery by using the power of sport and Leeds United to increase levels of engagement with young pupils. Through this PSHE lesson the coaches were promoting equality, diversity and inclusion whilst also providing pupils with an enhances experience to support their learning.
For more information on the Premier League Primary Stars programme within the Foundation, please contact [email protected].
