Posh Men’s Midfielder Brandon Khela and Women’s winger Kira Rai attended the recent Emerging Talent Festival.
The Premier League's latest Emerging Talent Festival enabled hundreds of children from diverse backgrounds to showcase their ability in front of club staff from across the country.
The festival, held under the player pathway pillar of the League's No Room For Racism Action Plan, is part of a long-term initiative to address the under representation of British South Asians playing professional football. It took place prior to the launch of the club's new crest and shirt.
It helps clubs connect with their communities at grassroots level, engaging primarily South Asian children in Academy-style tournaments led by professional coaches. The festivals have now involved more than 3,300 players and approximately 900 coaches, with 28 clubs coming together this year to take part.
Watching on were some of the country's leading South Asian players with Brandon Khela and Kira Rai, joined by Wrexham AFC's Mariam Mahmood, as well as Leicester City's aspiring Academy defender Reiss Khela.
They follow in the footsteps of other South Asian role models such as Mal Benning and Anwar Uddin to have supported the events.
"[It's important] these kids get the opportunity," Khela said. "They're still young and they've got so much growth and development, but to get them out there is the big thing for me. Show them this is the top level and anything's possible. It's about reinforcing that statement and giving these lads the opportunity."
The festival, which took place at Loughborough University, has now been held for six years by the Premier League. Launched in 2021 between only two teams, this year's edition hosted 28 clubs from the top tier through to League Two.
It followed a series of regional qualifiers as grassroots Under-8s represented their local professional clubs, with more than one in 10 attendees invited to development centres last year.
In women's football, the Premier League funds 70 FA Girls' Emerging Talent Centres, designed to diversify the women and girls' talent pathway. Since funding began three years ago, representation by players from ethnically under-represented groups has increased by 87 per cent.
Kira Rai, who has visited the centres previously, believes representation is important in both the men's and women's game.
"I've gone into schools to do talks and the shock on their faces at me [as a South Asian footballer], I want to normalise it and not be the first brown girl they've seen play football," she says.
