Football club's mascot named after mentor who died

Q: Who was Aaron Mills and how did he die?

Aaron Mills was a mentor and coach who died from meningitis on January 3, 2023, due to a strain not covered by school vaccinations.

Q: What is the significance of the name Swazza the Swan for the new mascot?

The name Swazza the Swan was chosen by the community to honor Aaron Mills and his contributions to Wolverley Football Club.

Q: How did the community contribute to the naming of the mascot?

The local community responded to Wolverley Football Club's call-out for suggestions, leading to the selection of the name Swazza the Swan.

A young teen on a football pitch kicking a ball. His head is down and he is wearing a green football kit

Aaron Mills died from meningitis earlier this year [Handout]

A grassroots football club in Kidderminster will name its new mascot in memory of a former mentor and coach.

Aaron Mills died on 3 January from a strain of meningitis that was not covered in his school vaccinations.

Wolverley Football Club will name its mascot Swazza the Swan after the local community responded to its call-out for suggestions.

Parents Deniz and Anthony Mills said that Aaron received the nickname Swazza from school and were "incredibly proud" he would be remembered by the club.

Anthony Mills said a teacher from King Charles I school gave Aaron the nickname after watching him play football.

He said: "He used to watch Aaron play football on the astro turf. He would score a worldly goal with a bit of curve and bit of swaz on it and gave him the name.

"We were extremely proud of Aaron anyway for the person he was. After he passed we had lots of stories of how he affected other people and we just got more proud of him."

"It's just the way people thought of him, they thought he was a great lad."

Hospital staff diagnosed Aaron with Meningitis B days after he had complained of headaches.

He suffered a seizure at home and was taken to hospital for treatment. But after undergoing brain surgery his family was told it "would not be good news".

He was pronounced dead days later.

'Fitting tribute'

His father said: "I'm incredibly proud of him now, more than I ever was.

"For people to honour him like that. It keeps us remembering him for the right reasons."

Gavin Jones, who founded the football club three years ago, said Aaron was a "valued" member.

He told the BBC: "We had lots of names come in [to name our mascot] and just after Christmas we got the shocking news about Aaron.

"He was just beyond his years. Always happy and always smiling.

"It was refreshing someone his age to be like that. It was shocking to see someone with that much life ahead of them to come down with a disease like that at the time.

"It was just a fitting tribute to a great young lad. It just felt right to do it."

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