Experienced foster carer Estelle shares what it’s like to support two rising stars in the making.
“As newly approved carers we were eagerly awaiting our first placement. When the phone call came, we had a beautiful room ready – apart from no bed! Luckily, the young person had somewhere safe to be for that night and so there was a quick phone call to the local furniture store to get a bed delivered ASAP.
Noah was 12 when he came into care and he had been hard to place – not because of any other reason apart from his phenomenal talent for football. He was already enrolled in a category one academy at Fulham Football Club and would need taking to London for three training sessions a week, plus matches on Sundays that could be anywhere in the south of England, from Norwich to Swansea and down to Southampton. This was a massive ask for foster carers, but we were new and keen and desperately wanted to give this lad the chance he deserved.
We had our ups and downs in the first few weeks but, as it was summer, football did not start until pre-season training in August. Those first few trips were an eye opener – 70 miles each way and two hours stood pitch side in all weathers. Obviously, new boots were needed (“how much?”) and very soon the car needed new tyres!
Once school went back it became evident that a full- time teaching job for me was really not compatible with fostering and football. The job went soon after as I was needed as a carer first and foremost. The football was also non-negotiable for many reasons, not least that the judge in the family court had said that the football had to be supported for Noah; she was looking forward to watching him on Match of the Day sometime.
What an adventure that first season was. Academy matches are held at the football club’s training grounds. Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea are particular favourites – beautiful grass and posh toilets for spectators. Some matches required an overnight in a hotel to save getting up ridiculously early. For others there was a bus laid on for the boys, but he still needed to be dropped in London at 7am to get on it. We had a few nice days out while waiting for him as travelling up there twice in a day was too much.
In 2018 we got the news that Noah was being ‘released’ by his club. He cried all the way home from the meeting. We took all the support we could get from the club and he got an opportunity to have a trial at Southampton. He quickly showed what a fantastic player he is, and they soon signed him for the Under 15 season. The following year he was spotted at a Plate Final match in the Floodlit cup that was held at St George’s Park (the England Team training ground). The next week he had an invitation to go to an England training camp and be in the England Under 16 team. This was such an exciting opportunity! He played in two matches for England in October2019 but by December we had the news that he had not got his scholarship place with Southampton. The scholarship programme is a two-year football apprenticeship that academy players go onto instead of college. This was disappointing but we were prepared – no tears this time.
January and February 2020 saw us up and down the motorway taking him for trials at other clubs – we went to Brighton, Swansea, Stoke City and eventually Portsmouth. The trial at Portsmouth went really well. The last few matches of the season were affected by Covid but, thankfully, they had seen enough to offer a scholar place.
September 2020 saw big changes for us all with Noah staying at a host family for six nights a week. We are so pleased that he wants to come home most weekends, even if I am getting a bit bored of the roadworks on the M27! When Noah is away playing football during the week, we still receive an allowance which is used to purchase new clothes and other day-to-day costs of caring for him.
This amazing journey that Noah is on would not have been possible without the amazing support we have had from both Children‘s Services and his school. We claim mileage allowance for around 500 miles a week (did I not mention that his little brother, Liam, is playing in an U9 academy team now too) and we have needed so many days off to be sanctioned for travelling to matches or going to trial days when looking for new clubs. Even without this he has had day release days in every school week where he attended football instead of school for a couple of days a week. They even provided a taxi for some of the journeys to training when needed.
He is now well on his way to being a professional footballer. He has grown into a fine young person that we are all so very proud of. His resilience over the years is a lesson to us all in how to deal with setbacks in life. He doesn’t moan – he just gets on with it. It has been a privilege to share his journey with him and, although I have worn out a couple of cars in the process, at least I now understand the offside rule!”