Photos by Suki Zhang and Amar Sasidharan Pillai (Festival Interns – Digital Content Creators)
Back by popular demand, Pierce Kiembi, Futbol Lingo’s inspirational co-founder was joined by Futbol Lingo sponsor R’Mar Murray at Northumbria University Sport Central in March to promote the power of languages to open doors to careers in the football sector in two half day workshops. Pierce had already delivered a UK-wide webinar for secondary schools earlier in March as part of this year’s Festival, for around 6,000 primary and secondary pupils.
112 pupils from seven schools attended the workshops – Kenton School, RGS, Trinity Academy and Excelsior Academy (Newcastle), Seaham High School (County Durham), Hexham Middle School (Northumberland) and Jarrow School (South Tyneside).
Workshop hosts
Multilingual Pierce’s parents were Congolese and he was raised in Germany and then came to the UK as a teenager, before winning a football scholarship at the University of Texas. Speaking French, Lingala, German, Spanish and English has helped him in his career in football and he’s also learning Portuguese. He established the Futbol Lingo App as a tool to help professional clubs with international players and then developed an education offer for schools.
R’Mar is a former professional football player and the founder of R’ZICO Group, a dynamic enterprise specializing in performance coaching, corporate speaking, mentorship and elite development programmes.
Together they delivered an inspiring day of workshops – including sessions on explaining the opportunities available across the football sector to those who speak multiple languages, a World Cup and Copa America bidding session in French, German and Spanish and an exciting football practical activity in Spanish.
This is the third year running that we have been part of the Festival, because we know the importance and the power of languages. I think it’s something that should continue to be fostered.
Football is a universe, but within that universe, there are loads of languages spoken and lots of cultures represented. So it’s important to communicate that and the importance of how languages can open doors within the football industry.”
Pierce Kiembi, Co-Founder of Futbol Lingo
Language is a national thing, but it’s international. I think the more languages you know, the more impact you can make on the world. It is important, because you can diversify your opportunities by learning these different languages.
I touched on the fact that I’d be able to go and play in South America or Spain, not just because I’m the best footballer ever, but also because I can speak Spanish and I can also speak French and German and part Italian, which also allows me to be able to play over there as well.
R’Mar Murray, Founder of R’ZICO Group
Languages and careers in the football sector
During their motivational talks, Pierce and R’Mar took young people on an exploration of the world of football and the importance of speaking different languages to be able to communicate within football teams and clubs, with key stakeholders and of course, the fans. Pierce shared his journey as a player, coach and translator and R’Mar his journey as a footballer and then sportwear and brand developer. They provided insights into how the most successful players, coaches and teams are multilingual, adapting to different environments, cultures and situations.
Pierce and R’Mar helped the young audience understand that speaking other languages opens door to the widest range of opportunities within the football sector and are essential for many of the roles on the pitch, behind the scenes and in public:
- players, managers and coaches, officials, agents, scouts and sponsors
- multidisciplinary teams within clubs that contribute to the success of the team: player liaison, medical staff, nutritionists, education staff, therapists, player care, analysis, psychology, strength and conditioning, physiotherapists, drivers
- media and communications: commentators, journalists, interpreters, translators, social media
I think it’s really important that children have the opportunity to learn different languages in order to communicate with different people. from a cultural perspective as well, and to understand and appreciate different cultures and to broaden horizons.
Chris Armstrong, Teacher at Hexham Middle School
It’s good for them to give them more opportunities in the working market and also to make them a little bit more aware of the internationality of the world. we really need festivals and events that promote languages, because it is one of the weaknesses in this country. People need to learn more languages so they can work abroad and have more opportunities. So, yeah, it’s a good thing that they do it at the festival.
Beatriz Garcia Galvez, Teacher at Excelsior Academy
World Cup and Copa America sessions
Pupils were split into groups and chose a country to represent. Each country group then had to bid for either the World Cup (morning session) or Copa America (afternoon session). Pierce provided them with country flags, sentence builders in the language of their chosen country and list of facts was shared in a presentation for them to find out information.
The pupils represented the hosting panel for their country, whose main languages were either French, German or Spanish. They were tasked with finding out information and responding to questions in the language of that country to convince the UEFA or CAF board why their country should host, talking about facilities, future plans and the benefits for the country. Pupils did really well in responding to the questions and scores were kept, with extra points for linguistic flair and presentation. Everyone was applauded for their efforts.
Football sessions in Spanish
R’Mar led the practical sessions with groups of schools in the morning and afternoon. He acted as their coach, teaching them instructions in Spanish so that they could use the phrases they had learned to play football together in the the sports hall and providing some coaching techniques to improve their football skills. Pupils engaged enthusiastically in the session and enjoyed themselves.
Student Peul said:
I like doing Spanish and I like doing loads of good activities. So if I want to go to Spain, I can speak to them and buy stuff.
It was wonderful to see how the pupils engaged so enthusiastically in the sessions. Pierce and R’Mar were inspirational and shared examples from their own lives and experiences in the football sector, just how wide the opportunities are for young people who speak multiple languages – but also in any chosen career.
We are grateful to Pierce and R’Mar for being part of the Festival and to the staff at Sport Central at Northumbria University, for being such wonderful hosts for the third time. Being on the university campus is an additional benefit for the young people attending, many of whom will have not had that experience before. It all helps inspire them to think more widely about what they may do in the future.
Declan Baharini, Festival Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of International Newcastle
Further information
About Futbol Lingo: In the professional realm, Futbol Lingo specialises in assisting players and coaches in bridging language barriers through our Football Language (FL) App. In the educational sphere, Futbol Lingo’s mission is to provide tailored, football-themed language learning experiences within schools, colleges and universities, with the aim of igniting a passion and inspiring a generation of linguists.
- Visit the Futbol Lingo website for schools services here
- Email the team at info@futbollingo.com and follow Futbol Lingo on social media: facebook, instagram, X (twitter), youtube and LinkedIn
- Click here for more languages and careers webinars taking place in March and our Festival curated selection of Languages and Careers resources
- Contact: Pierce Kiembi – info@futbollingo.com
International Newcastle and Newcastle City Council (School Effectiveness) worked with the Futbol Lingo team and Northumbria University Sport Central to offer these free sessions to schools and pupils. The activity is funded by a grant to the City Council from the North East Combined Authority.
This event was funded by the North East Combined Authority
About the photographers
Five Festival interns from Northumbria and Newcastle Universities have been producing articles and digital content for the Festival this year. The Festival wants to provide opportunities for students to gain real-world experience to help them in their future careers.
Suki Zhang is studying at Newcastle University, doing a Masters in International Multimedia Journalism. She works as a broadcaster at Newcastle Universities radio study and writes for the student newspaper.
Amarnath Sasidharan Pillai is doing an MSc in Business Analytics with Advanced Practice at Northumbria University. He is passionate about creating digital content and has experience in social media management, content creation, photography, videography, and video editing, with extensive hands-on work covering multiple festivals and live events in Newcastle and Sunderland. You can see Amarnath’s portfolio online here