Leeds United striker Chris Wood has praised his international teammate and West Ham United defender Winston Reid, according to Stuff.
Wood’s comments were in reference to the Winston Reid Foundation, which aims to make improvements to football in New Zealand. Reid wants to 1) build the infrastructure for two world-class football academies and 2) encourage more Maori kids to play football.
The two academies, one in Auckland and one in Wellington, will aim to get more players to the elite level of football. Reid also hopes to add a third academy in Christchurch once the first two are already up and running.
On offer is a Maori Football Scholarship, which would include financial support for footballers aiming to make it to the elite level. Players will also receive advice from Reid himself. Reid has said that the initiative is as much about helping the wider New Zealand community as helping elite footballers.
[interaction id=”58cd8ea47e8066d7630dc1d2″]Chris Wood has heaped praise on Reid’s initiative, saying that he would have been helped by such a system if it had existed when he was starting his career.
Wood, who has taken over as captain of New Zealand for their current games due to Reid being injured, said “It’s something that as a kid when I was back here I never had this type of opportunity, and it’s something I would have benefited from if I had this as a kid.
“It’s definitely something that I’m very taken aback by, looking at it I know that I’d like to be a part of it. It’s going to help enhance kids coming through and it will get them to the next level and they won’t have to go away from New Zealand to have to do that.”
Wood, 25, is currently top-scorer in the Championship with 24 goals.
