Daniel Iversen and Emil Riis’ visit to Middleforth Church of England Primary School last week left pupils buzzing with excitement.
The Danish pair answered pupils’ questions about the lifestyle of a professional footballer and what it takes to make a career in the game.
𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 to the man of the hour, Emil Riis, on signing his new deal! 🔥
— Preston North End Community and Education Trust (@pnecommunity) October 29, 2021
Emil and compatriot Daniel Iversen joined #PNECET for their first public player appearance last week, leaving @MiddleforthCoEP pupils buzzing with excitement. 👇#pnefc #PLPrimaryStars
Middleforth is one of many PNECET partner primary schools across Preston, benefitting from delivery of the Premier League Primary Stars programme.
As part of the Primary Stars programme, PNECET delivers high-quality, cross-curricular PE lessons in local primary schools, while inspiring children through the power and appeal of Preston North End and football as a whole.
That appeal was evident when Iversen and Riis visited, with Year 6 teacher Mr Noblett explaining that there are a number of North End supporting children in the school.
“We first found out a few weeks ago that they were coming in and the children couldn’t believe it first of all, we’ve never had any footballer come to our school.
“They know them and have seen them on the pitch, seen them in the stadium, but they’ve never seen them in real life, face-to-face.
“The impact it’s had on the children, some of them go and watch Preston every week, and they absolutely loved it.
“There’s that many Preston fans in here that now when they see them, they will say, ‘He came to my school!’ They were just absolutely buzzing they were here.
“Moving forward, I’m hoping that every time PNECET are here coaching, the children will remember the time Daniel and Emil came in and the impact that that had on them.”
Middleforth is in its first year of partnership with PNECET and Mr Noblett added that children had been benefitting well from sessions since the new academic year began.
“The children are absolutely loving the coaching sessions at the minute, and it’s the first year that we’ve implemented the lessons through PNECET.
“The school are absolutely loving it, the sessions are fantastic, all the children are really busy and they’re enjoying them, they all come away with a smile on their faces.
“The coaches are calm and respectful, the behaviour has been fantastic, both inside the classroom when they’re talking about the coaches coming in, and most importantly outside, they’re absolutely loving the sessions and always have a smile on their faces, which is all we can ask for.”
Schools Provision Coordinator Jack Mountain added: “We’re thankful to Daniel Iversen and Emil Riis for joining us at Middleforth Primary School for our first in-person player visit at a primary school in 18 months.
“The pupils asked some brilliant questions and we hope that the two players’ answers and their presence at school can inspire them to continue to succeed in their PE lessons.”
For more information about the Primary Stars programme, please email jack.mountain@pne.com.