WHEN it came to number crunching, Preston Edwards used to be more concerned about clean sheets.
But now the Boreham Wood keeper is looking at angles and tables in a completely different light – the brainbox stopper is taking a maths degree.
The 25-year-old former England C international is also teaching 10 and 11 year-olds maths at Andrews Lane Primary School in Cheshunt as he looks to life after football when the most important points will be decimal.
Edwards, who is on loan at National League Wood from Ebbsfleet United, told The NLP: “I was working at a school doing sports coaching and the headteacher asked, ‘Have you thought about doing a degree? ‘Why not maths?'
“I've got an A in mathematics in my GCSEs but I haven't studied for eight years. It sounds silly, but I forgot how to divide! The mental method, I mean, because I'm so used to using a calculator. I thought, ‘This might not be the thing for me!' But it's all good now and I'm learning new things.
“I'm doing the degree through the Open University so I'm studying at home. If you're not doing anything at home it's a good thing to do and it's good to get the qualifications so you can work somewhere.
“You can easily put your feet up and play the PlayStation, but I thought, why not get your head down, start rattling your brain and work out some equations.”
While cases of footballers turning their minds to the more traditional academics seems few and far between, Edwards' sharp, analytical mind comes as no surprise to his team-mates.
Equation
“I've always been good with numbers,” Edwards said. “Just ask the lads in my card school – they think I count cards!
“It's something that's always interested me. I couldn't sit there and read a book, but tell me to go and add up some numbers and I'll be really good at it.
“I really enjoy the teaching too. It's really nice to see how your methods are helping the children.
“If you're doing something every day it can get tedious. So I try and make them enjoy it and make it as fun as possible.
“It makes me concentrate more now. I think about things differently and where I would normally daydream, I'm probably thinking about an equation.”
It doesn't take a genius to work out Boreham Wood will be alright in Non-League's top flight if they get more results like last weekend as they beat Tranmere Rovers 2-0 away.
That was Edwards' debut after leaving National League South Ebbsfleet for the season.
“I'm enjoying the change of environment and looking forward to playing the bigger teams in the league,” Edwards said. “I'm sure we can cause one or two upsets.”
