The KickX Arena in Surrey may seem a million miles away from the glitz and glamour of playing in front of thousands at the Emirates, Wembley or Goodison Park – but former Arsenal and England forward Theo Walcott has found a new home. After first visiting the KickX Arena when his son came here for a birthday party, Walcott was immediately impressed with the mix of football formats and the facilities, the energy and welcoming environment.
He later returned and sought out Vik Sharma, founder, and CEO of KickX, and decided to invest his name and brand to the pioneering project. On Monday, Walcott hosted a community event in Surrey at the innovative football venue, KickX arena, where the former Arsenal, Southampton and Everton forward was joined by ex-Lioness Katie Chapman, who is also KickX ambassador, at the event in Addlestone, Surrey.
Local players from community groups and teams were in attendance and took part in games and challenges with the England stars, and the players in a Q&A with questions from the audience. Surrey FA also announced their official recognition of the KickX arena and hybrid football games at the event.
KickX opened in July 2023 and offers seven micro-sided football formats including the popular Padbol, a mix of football, squash, and tennis and Teqball, a blend of football and table tennis.
“I’ll start off by picturing the scene for you,” said Walcott. “So, it was my son’s birthday, I was trying to find a place to play football. He loves football and I had come across KickX. What it was, my son’s energy and his face lit up when he came into the arena, all the different sort arenas – Padbol, which is great, Panna, which is one of his favourites.
“It was in a safe environment. The standard, it does not matter as well, and it really brought the kid out of me when I saw him. That is what I really want to be part of the journey that Vic is on, and that is one reason I am here. We look at other sort of cultures in sport. I have learned a lot over the years of the gifted technicians.
“And I feel like something like this can help develop the next generation of talent, particularly when you look at the Padbol and the technique, the panna particularly, because we’re looking at now different ways of trying to get out of certain spaces and that particular one, for instance, is where your showboating sort of comes into style.
“But it is just fun. And I feel like that is one thing we go away from at times in anything that we do. I feel like there is always an energy, an anxiousness about us at times and I just feel like this place just provides that safe environment where you can just come and relax it.
“It does not matter what sort of ability you are at, you can get to meet people, the people are friendly, and you get to learn as well but you can still have that competitiveness about, so it is good. We’re always trying to look for the new sort of upgrade to learning and what we are going to do to improve as a place, as a structure.
“But even how you can socialise, for instance, you might have professionals socialising with certain people in the staff who they do not really see at times and what that is going to do is it’s going to bring people together and bring that positive energy. That is what it is.
“Because it is I suppose non-competitive at some point, it is to get to know people in a different space, regardless of the level, and that is when you look at professional clubs, the players will be, of course, competitive.
“But as well, I remember myself, we used to have a small area like this before Champions League games. Mesut Ozil, Santi Cazorla, all these guys would be just doing a bit of two touch, and they were just gifted players, and they would have just done it in a really confined area near the streets near cars.
“Again, this is safe. It is a place where you feel comfortable. And like I said, safe is the key part. But at football clubs, particularly if Premier League clubs are doing something, that is not a bad space to be involved in. That is for sure.”
KickX arena opened in July 2023 and offers seven hybrid football formats including the popular Padbol, a mix of football, squash, and tennis and Teqball, a blend of football and table tennis. For more information please visit www.kickxfootball.com