The Leeds United Foundation and Leeds United Women's players Izzy Elliott and Paige Williams were proud to present Jessica Simeson with the Outstanding Contribution to Wellbeing Award at their inaugural Supporting Our City Awards on Wednesday evening.
Jessica has been a committed member of our Female Education Programme, delivered in partnership with Leeds City College, throughout the last year. Over the year, she has shown incredible strength and resilience, facing challenges head-on with a positive attitude that inspires everyone else on the programme.
Jess originally started her journey with the club's official charity in the Shadow Squad and now is a valued member of both the College programme and Female Coaches Club.
Jess has been awarded for her determination, the way she supports her peers, offers encouragement and lifts others up - she is a valued member of the charity, quietly but powerfully shaping the energy of the whole group during her weekly sessions.
Speaking on her involvement with the Foundation, Jess said: “To me wellbeing is general health, being happy, feeling safe, and just enjoying life and what you’re getting out of it.
“I think sport is massively important to people’s wellbeing, what I’ve found out in my time is that sport has always been my happy place – as soon as I step onto the football pitch all my worries go away.
“To make everyone feel included and supported, I always turn up with a smile on my face and always check in with the girls, make sure they’re all okay, make sure there’s no injuries, and throughout the session just encouraging them.
“Being a girl myself, it’s good for the girls to look up to you and you be able to support them if they need it. The advice I’d give to someone who’s wanting to do something similar to me, is to just keep trying, take all the opportunities you can, and don’t give up.
“There’s a lot of people out there that might try to put you down, just don’t listen to them, keep going and do it for you, not for anyone else.”
Jess is now about to take the next step on her journey with an Introduction to Football Coaching qualification and will soon be sharing her skills and enthusiasm as part of the Leeds United Foundation coaching team.
From all at Leeds United, we’d like to congratulate Jess on her award and thank her for her contributions to the Foundation.
We’d also like to thank Mustafa Abbas, who has been highly commended for this award.
