Reiss Nelson and Kaylan Marckese have been named as the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Community Champions for the 2022/23 season, celebrating their work off the pitch throughout local areas.
The PFA Community Champion awards recognise players who have gone above and beyond for their club’s local communities, with Reiss and Kaylan honoured for their commitment over the past season.
Reiss has continually shown his passion for supporting the community throughout his career at Arsenal, whether that be by trying his hand at coaching in the local area, helping to combat anti-social behaviour and providing safe spaces and creating opportunities through the club’s No More Red campaign.
Most recently he took the time to visit his old school, where his love of football first began as a child. Reiss has fully funded a new artificial pitch where he grew up in the hope of providing opportunities for children to play and to help develop the next generation of talent.
Despite only joining in July 2022, American goalkeeper Kaylan has shown an outstanding commitment to engaging with community initiatives throughout the season. She attended our Get Islington Reading event at Emirates Stadium, where she encouraged young primary school girls to pursue careers in sport.
She also spoke at our Embrace Equity event during International Women’s Month to highlight the incredible contributions women have made in society, and Kaylan has been an ever-welcoming presence for Arsenal in the Community by attending pitch openings and visiting our disability sessions. She is a great example of how player engagement can create positive changes in the local community.
Freddie Hudson, head of Arsenal in the Community, said, “Huge thanks to Kaylan and Reiss for their passion and commitment in support of our Community and Foundation work this season.
They are genuine role models who have used their platforms to provide our participants with an important sense of belonging to Arsenal. We are extremely proud to have them as our Community Champions.”
Kaylan Marckese joins Reiss in collecting the PFA Champions Award for 2022/23, having thrown herself into community work since her arrival in July 2022
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