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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
Sport
Richard Forrester

Zak Vyner recalls racial abuse as Bristol City duo take time out to educate and inspire pupils

There was a cacophony of high-pitch noise when Zak Vyner and Jay Dasilva were waving goodbye to the excited young pupils of Oasis Academy, Marksbury.

The Bristol City pair had just spent an hour of their free time with a number of Year Six pupils, playing football in the playground and taking part in a Q&A session to help educate and celebrate Black History Month.

The children weren't going to waste their opportunity to share a concrete five-a-side pitch with two professional footballers and role models. "Are you confident you'll save everything?" was one amusing comment from one friend to another after she volunteered herself to go between the sticks.

Easier said than done after her goal was breached just a few moments later with Vyner involved in an energetic and somewhat chaotic build-up. On the adjacent pitch, Dasilva was tying up the shoelaces of another pupil to avoid any further drama.

However, they weren't just there to entertain but also to educate as they sat in the hot seats in the lunch hall to cover topics ranging from their black role models and the challenges they have had to overcome in their careers.

Unfortunately, both players have been victims of racial abuse. Just over two years ago Dasilva publically spoke out when he received a comment on Instagram which included a number of emojis with racist connotations.

"This happens way too much on Instagram/Twitter etc. Social media platforms need to find a way to block this from happening" were Dasilva's comments in addressing the appalling message.

Nothing's changed. Earlier this month, Brentford's Ivan Toney took to social media to reveal a racist comment directed at him after scoring twice in a victory over Brighton. On Friday, Sheffield United's Rhian Brewster was racially abused on social media.

They are just the latest in a ridiculously high number of cases over the years and it's one of the reasons why the City duo were happy to use their time to help inspire and educate a new generation in an attempt to prevent such incidences from occurring in the future.

Vyner, who is part of The Robins Foundation Primary Stars programme, told Bristol Live: "There's still obvious cases going on like Ivan Toney. Social media outlets can certainly do more because I don't know how that can still be happening.

"Obviously, there's more we can do and highlighting the times where we can actually talk about it. It's not exactly a comfortable conversation to have and I completely understand that.

"We all understand that but it needs to be had. If it's an uncomfortable conversation or someone like Ivan Toney getting those messages, you can understand which one is worse.

"An uncomfortable conversation has to be had and it's a situation where words can be taken out of context but I think we still need to have those convos and get the message out there to make sure that's being done.

"On my social media, if there's something that I see, it's terrible and it needs to be challenged and needs to be dealt with in the right way. People might be saying Ivan Toney isn't dealing with it the right way by putting it out there but otherwise he's just got to deal with it.

"It's ridiculous that he has to go through that on social media and we still can't find a way to stop that."

Those comments are a reflection of Vyner's character and ethos - to have the confidence to be able to speak up and challenge the issues head-on. It was something he chose to do when he was racially abused for the first time at the age of 19.

Vyner, whose mum is Kenyan and dad English, was on loan at Accrington Stanley. It was his first taste of life away from Ashton Gate having propelled himself through the Bristol City academy.

"I've never had messages like that but I've experienced it in a game before on a matchday," he added.

"It was tough. I was 19 and the ball went into the crowd. I went to go and get the ball to take a throw-in playing right-back and he made a racial slur and it took me back, it was the first time I had experienced it in a match.

"I caught the ball and stopped the game and luckily because I had the education of what to do in that situation, I went up to the referee and he stopped the match. He got the fourth official to send someone over and we got it sorted in the end."

Vyner could have easily reacted but he had role models around him including his mother who was able to provide valuable advice if was ever caught in a similar situation.

He added: "It wasn't a nice experience, I was young but I had the role models above me to tell me what to do in a situation like that. It was a tough situation to be in at that age but again, if I can tell that to these kids then they know how to deal with that as well.

"She (Vyner's mum) told me that if you're on the pitch don't retaliate. I could have easily launched the ball back at him and jumped the barrier and I would have been the one in trouble.

"As much as I wanted to I couldn't. I'd had the conversations before but it wasn't even in my head that I was going to experience that. It was a tough time."

Vyner and Dasilva now want to channel their experiences by turning them into a positive for the children who are likely to remember that hour for a long, long time.

He said: "It was making sure that if me and Jay have inspired them that they've seen two black players in the Championship, maybe they think that it could be us one day and spike that interest and passion.

"We were with a big cultural group there and absolutely it's to educate and to make sure that they can see someone on the TV that looks like them and the representation is there and I think that's massive in their lives.

"They might not recognise now but if there's just one kid that thinks they can do it then we can help and it comes from education, it comes from us lot taking time out of our day to do that and make sure we're doing that in the right way which I felt we did that today."

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