Coach Gemma staple represents Palace for Life at Chicago Fan Festival
As part of the Premier League’s Mornings Live Fan Festival, held in Chicago in late September, Palace for Life Female Engagement Officer Gemma Staple led local children through a variety of sessions alongside several local clubs.
The two-day event, which brings together US-based football fans to watch Premier League fixtures, was the 10th of its kind, following previous events in Washington D.C., New York, Boston, Austin, Miami Beach, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Orlando, and Nashville.
Palace have a special relationship with their American fanbase, having last visited the country in 2023 — a trip that included a stop in Chicago — and again in 2024 on a pre-season tour.
We were proud to be represented as part of the weekend by Female Engagement Officer Gemma Staple, who, when back in south London, works within the community to encourage as many girls as possible to get involved in football in south London, particularly through the Premier League Kicks programme.
Watch Gemma’s interview on Palace TV here.
“We’ve been here for a couple of days now, coaching kids from all different backgrounds here in Chicago. It’s been really inspiring, working with Chicago Fire, Chicago Reds, and other partners.
“Knowing that the Premier League is doing great work worldwide and being able to represent Palace here in the US to get kids playing football, helping them realise there’s a future — maybe one day they’ll play in the Premier League. And if not, they can still play football for fun!
“A lot of the kids we’ve worked with here are from local schools or youth teams. It’s a good mix of people, mainly from underrepresented communities, and giving them the opportunity to play football in a mixed group has been really rewarding.”
Also representing Palace in the US was former forward, Palace for Life Patron and Marathon March legend, Mark Bright, who met with fans for a Q&A over the weekend.
For more information on the work we do closer to home in south London, head to our news page, or donate to our work here.