Rotherham United Football Club (RUFC) and Rotherham United Community Sports Trust (RUCST) are delighted to confirm that eight men’s first-team players have committed their support to specialised roles within the local community for the 2021/22 season as Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Player Ambassadors.
RUCST is the Official Charitable Partner of Rotherham United Football Club, which uses the power and the brand of a professional sports club to bring about long-lasting change in the many diverse communities of Rotherham. Using their passion for empowering communities and creating positive change, RUCST aim to deliver high quality wide-ranging projects which generate life-changing habits through Education, Health & Wellbeing, Inclusion, the National Citizen Service (NCS) and Sport Participation.
Rotherham United and the PFA are committed to encouraging player engagement in the community, meaning that the first-team squad take part in a number of player visits throughout the year. These visits are coordinated by us at RUCST in partnership with PFA, and they can range from attending school Q&As, holiday camps, health and wellbeing sessions and many more.
Club captain Richard Wood continues his outstanding work for the trust and local community as he takes on the roles of Sports Participation, Equalities, Disability, Charities and Fundraising/Campaigns ambassador.
Defender Michael Ihiekwe has actively supported RUCST’s work throughout his time at the Club and will become the Inclusion and Show Racism the Red Card ambassador for this season.
Deadline day signing Will Grigg will share the Health & Wellbeing ambassador role with Mickel Miller, supporting local residents of Rotherham to maintain healthy and active lifestyles.
Local boy Ben Wiles continues his role as Education ambassador and shares the responsibility with popular new signing Rarmani Edmonds-Green. Other new boys Hakeem Odoffin and Olly Rathbone also take on the Mental Health & Wellbeing and NCS ambassador roles respectively.
Finally, Women’s team captain Amy Pollock takes charge of the Girls/Women’s ambassador role in celebration of her 11 years at Rotherham United Women FC.
Jamie Noble, Head of Community said:
“We are delighted with the response from the players, we are fortunate to have such an inspirational and passionate group who are willing to go the extra mile for the club and communities within the town they represent. I would like to thank the newly appointed ambassadors and the team as a collective for all the support they are providing off the field.”
The Professional Footballers Association (PFA) is the union for all current and former footballers and scholars in the Premier League, the FA Women’s Super League and the English Football Leagues.
We are committed to helping you understand your purpose as both a player and a person. We provide the information, advice and support you need to help maximise the opportunities that come with playing professional football. If you would like to find out more information about the PFA, please visit https://www.thepfa.com/about-us.
For more information about Rotherham United Community Sports Trust, visit our website www.rucst.co.uk follow us on twitter (@RU_CST), or contact community@rotherhamunited.net.