Sky Blues football star: Students at West Coventry Academy got a real kick out of an inspirational talk by a former football star, as part of six months of workshops and events designed to build their confidence and self-belief.
Former Coventry City player Carl Baker visited the school, which is part of the respected Arthur Terry Learning Partnership, on Friday, March 7 in an event organised by Happy Confident Kids.
Year 7, 8 and 9 students had the chance to hear from Carl about his footballing career, and learn from his experiences of overcoming setbacks and growing confidence.
Carl, who played 160 times for the Sky Blues, explained: “I spoke about confidence and belief, based on my own experiences and the obstacles I had to overcome as a player, to get to the point where I am now.”
Carl started playing at the Liverpool FC academy at the age of ten and was coached by the legendary Steve Heighway. He went on to make more than 350 career appearances in the Football League.
He said: “Throughout my career, people doubted whether I was good enough to go professional, but I never let that stop me.
“So much of it is about how you hold yourself, your posture and your resilience, which is what I wanted to show the kids today.
“The kids have been fantastic – for the full duration they were fully focused and engaged, which really showed in the questions they asked.”
Carl wasn’t the first talented sportsperson to speak to West Coventry students. The day before, Year 10 and Sixth Form students heard from Paralympic gold medallist and taekwondo star Amy Truesdale.
Head Coach at Happy Confident Kids, Laura Dumbleton-Jones, said: “Yesterday there were some students coming down to the big hall who had never been in there before, as they were too intimidated. They got so much encouragement and plucked up the courage to come into a different environment and meet Amy. It was amazing to see.”
The team at Happy Confident Kids hope that hearing from inspirational figures will help young people take in the messages more effectively.
Coach Miranda De Freston said: “All the tools we teach kids are the same, whether they’re taught in nature workshops, one-to-one sessions or big school groups. They focus on believing, mindset, visualising success and these can be game-changing for teenagers.
“Having Carl and other inspirational adults deliver this message is what we call the ‘Batman Effect’ – they’re much more likely to remember what they’ve been taught, because someone they admire has helped them learn it.”
Sky Blues football star Carl said: “A lot of the kids are football and Coventry fans so they really listened. My son Jaden goes to this school, so this is home turf for me – it’s nice to give back.”
West Coventry Academy has been working with Happy Confident Kids since October 2024.
They have delivered a full programme of mentoring and coaching at the school, supporting everyone from the students themselves all the way up to the Senior Leadership Team.
Laura said: “I feel like part of the school, having been here for six months. The students know me and greet me in the hallways, and the staff have been so welcoming.”
And the effect their mentorship has had on the school community is clear to see.
Miranda said: “Our nature workshops and one-on-one sessions have had a visible effect on the children – we can see their confidence growing.
“The messages given by Carl and Amy, centring around self-belief and acceptance of who they are, have been very effective. We can see children taking in these lessons on a deep level. It’s an incredible feeling to make such a positive change.”
Carl said: “I want them to walk away valuing self-belief. They’re going to face setbacks, negative thoughts and people doubting them in life, everyone does. But as long as you believe in what you want to achieve, you can do it. Listen to your inner voice and go with your beliefs.”
Headteacher Ana Neofitou said: “Visits by inspirational speakers like Carl Baker and Amy Truesdale are a powerful way of helping build confidence and self-belief in the students, and are just one of the things we use at West Coventry Academy to help them reach their full potential.”