We have been incredibly proud of the efforts made by our first team players and staff to ensure their role in the local community has continued to be played despite the COVID-19 outbreak curtailing the 2019/20 campaign.
With fixtures and training together as a squad ruled out for a number of weeks following the suspension of matches back in March, we have all had to find various new and innovative ways to interact with friends and family from afar while the country has been in lockdown.
Video calls on platforms such as Zoom have risen to prominence, while quizzes and other online games have provided us with our entertainment from the comfort of our own homes.
However, despite the Rotherham United first team returning to training this week following a lengthy absence from Roundwood, forward Kyle Vassell has ensured his efforts to engage with the club’s supporters and members of the local community have not wavered.
Working closely with the club’s Community Sports Trust Inclusion Manager Trudi Race, Kyle offered to hold an online video question and answer session with some disabled families from Rotherham Parent & Carers Forum over the Zoom platform.
Kyle received a number of well-considered and posing questions from those involved, doing his best to give the young fans lengthy and informative answers over the course of the call.
There were smiles and laughter throughout the call with Kyle, who himself impressed with his efforts to engage with everyone involved.
Inclusion Manager Trudi Race was delighted by the success of the event, taking the time to thank Kyle and indeed his teammates and staff members for their support over the course of the last few months.
“We are incredibly lucky to have a group of players and coaches who have recognised the importance of continuing to play a part in the local community, despite a number of our programmes being put on hold during the COVID-19 outbreak,” she told www.themillers.co.uk.
“Kyle has been right at the forefront of the squad in terms of community engagement and this event wasn’t the first that he has been involved with alongside youngsters from the community.
“It has been hard for us all to try and engage with friends and family, so to see one of our first team players chatting away with young supporters in a safe online environment, in his own time makes us incredibly proud.
“Kyle made a real effort to put as much detail into his answers to the youngsters’ questions and he was really entertaining throughout.
"We received some really heart-warming feedback from the families post-Zoom thanking Kyle for his time, which we felt was thoroughly deserved.”
"Kyle has also stated he is hoping to buy each young person involved in the call and a parent a ticket each to a game next season when it is safe to return to watching fixtures in stadiums and this was a briliiant gesture that he made without any prompting from anyone at the club and speaks volumes about his devotion to the local community."
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