Wolves teenager Kam Kandola has story profiled in PL-commissioned youngsters’s soccer exercise ebook revealed in South Asian Heritage Month that includes South Asians in Football quiz and multiple-choice trivia questions; fellow Sikh-Punjabi Arjan Raikhy set to finish Leicester City change

Wolves defender Kam Kandola options in a first-of-its-kind youngsters’s soccer exercise ebook revealed throughout South Asian Heritage Month.

Sikh-Punjabi central defender Kandola, 19, is Wolverhampton born and bred, and has performed throughout all ages group for Wolves as he chases his dream of taking part in within the Premier League for his hometown membership.

Kandola, who went to Thomas Telford – the identical faculty attended by 2021 Aston Villa FA Youth Cup winner Arjan Rakhy – is featured within the ebook alongside Arsenal senior academy physiotherapist Zubair Haleem and Southampton assistant academy director Natasha Patel.

The youngsters’s exercise ebook, referred to as ‘All Stars’, is produced by Big Ideas and accompanies a ‘Day within the Life’ video made by The Media Group, aiming to recognise and honour gamers and practitioners of South Asian heritage, who type a part of soccer’s present workforce. Both have been commissioned by the Premier League as a part of their work for the 2022/23 season beneath their first-ever South Asian Action Plan (SAAP).

A concise historical past of the British South Asian footballers who’ve graced the Premier League, written by Sky Sports’ British South Asians in Football journalist Dev Trehan, additionally options within the ebook.

Trehan has additionally penned a sequence of South Asians in Football quiz and multiple-choice trivia questions referred to as Get Smart with Dev, that are showing in print format for the very first time.

The exercise books have been introduced to youngsters participating in Thursday’s Premier League Emerging Talent pageant at Loughborough – which noticed groups comprised predominantly of South Asian gamers (U9-U12) representing Arsenal, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Leicester City, Leeds United and West Ham United.

Thursday’s occasion was held after the golf equipment concerned held trial days, and constructed on final yr’s Emerging Talent Festivals held with West Ham and Leicester City, in addition to a Talent ID summit at Villa Park.

The Premier League says it’s dedicated to creating environments for younger individuals to attain their greatest on and off the pitch, with the historic and present under-representation of South Asian gamers in academies and the skilled sport recognized as a precedence space throughout the organisation’s No Room for Racism Action Plan.

‘An amazing second’

Speaking solely to Sky Sports News, Kam’s father stated: “As a family and as a community, we are all immensely proud of Kam, who has shown exemplary commitment and dedication to try and make it at the highest level.

“Kam has been brilliantly supported by individuals at each stage of the soccer membership, and we’re particularly grateful to the Wolves coaches and academy employees who’ve put their religion in Kam’s means.

“It really is a tremendous moment to see his story appear in print like this. We all hope it can help inspire the current and future generations of British South Asians in English football.”

‘What’s wanted is extra publicity’

The Punjabi Wolves advised Sky Sports News: “This is brilliant. It’s very much needed and well overdue. South Asian players have not been highlighted enough.

“What the Punjabi Wolves have managed to do within the stands [by improving diversity and representation] is what we need to see occur on the pitch. For no matter purpose – that is not taking place.

“What’s needed is more exposure, more people reading and more people inspired because the door is now slightly ajar. Before, it wasn’t.”

Leicester so as to add Raikhy to their ranks

Leicester City are poised to announce the signing of FA Youth Cup winner and former Aston Villa midfielder Arjan Raikhy, Sky Sports News can solely reveal.

Sky Sports News revealed earlier this month that Punjabi wonderkid Raikhy was set to decide upon his future, amid curiosity in his providers from golf equipment throughout the divisions. Raikhy is anticipated to initially hyperlink up with Leicester’s U21s.

Raikhy shot to prominence after a surprise objective in opposition to Chelsea for Villa’s U18s again in November 2020.

The technically-gifted midfielder made his senior first-team debut simply two months later in an FA Cup third-round tie in opposition to Liverpool, a second described by supporters’ group Punjabi Villans as “incredible”.

Raikhy ended a memorable season by organising Ben Chrisene’s opener in a 2-1 victory in opposition to Liverpool as Villa’s U18s lifted the FA Youth Cup.

The central midfielder loved one other productive marketing campaign the next season as he earned the excellence of serving to two groups – Stockport County and Grimsby Town – get promoted again to the Football League throughout two separate mortgage spells.

Despite impressing for Villa throughout their winter break in Dubai forward of final yr’s World Cup, Raikhy was one among eight gamers – together with Ashley Young and Jed Steer – launched on the finish of final season.

Raikhy attends Sporting Khalsa vs Punjab United

Raikhy and fellow Sikh-Punjabi skilled footballer Mal Benning appeared at an occasion earlier this month to celebrate South Asians in The Game, held ahead of Sporting Khalsa’s pre-season friendly against Punjab United.

Both golf equipment got here along with the Football Association and Three Lions to make 200 match tickets out there to the neighborhood free of charge, with a showcase occasion held beforehand – shining a light-weight on gamers from South Asian backgrounds, who’ve shattered the glass ceiling to play aggressive soccer in England.

Guests loved a Talent ID taster session and had the chance to study extra in regards to the gamers that featured in a first-of-its-kind Team of the Season, created by Sky Sports News journalist and FA Level 2 scout Dev Trehan and Desi Ballers founder Zohaib Rashid.

Sporting Khalsa’s sport with Punjab United was the third annual fixture for the 2 groups, with the match fittingly ending 3-3 after Punjab United mounted a late comeback from 3-1 all the way down to earn a share of the spoils.

A standard Punjabi drummer had earlier led the groups onto the pitch for a match that was officiated by the primary turbaned Sikh referee in English soccer league historical past, Jarnail Singh.

Singh, whose elder son Sunny Singh Gill is the country’s highest-ranked British South Asian referee, presided over the sport as a part of a South Asian officiating crew, with the intention of showcasing refereeing expertise and pathways into the sport.

FA to recruit and retain 1000 diverse refs

Meanwhile, The Football Association will unveil formidable new plans to recruit and retain 1,000 new referees from numerous backgrounds within the subsequent three years, Sky Sports News can solely reveal, within the hope of drastically altering the tradition of grassroots soccer.

The landmark new FA technique shall be launched on Thursday, with the intention of encouraging extra individuals from under-represented communities to contemplate getting concerned in soccer, and refereeing.

Whilst the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) organises referees and assistants on the elite stage, it’s nonetheless supportive of this new FA initiative, within the hope that extra black and South Asian referees will make it into the skilled sport in future.

British South Asians in Football

For extra tales, options and movies, go to our groundbreaking South Asians in Football page on skysports.com and South Asians in the Game blog and keep tuned to Sky Sports News and our Sky Sports digital platforms.