Wolves Foundation hosted a hugely successful Premier League Disability Football Festival with players from across the country taking part in another fantastic day of competition at Compton Park.
Teams representing Foundations from Aston Villa, Birmingham, West Bromwich Albion and Walsall were joined by others from further afield including Liverpool and Manchester United for the annual event.
The day saw four sides lift the trophy in their respective tournaments, with a win for Wolves and Everton in the under-11s, while Aston Villa and Manchester United took the under-16s honours.
But football was the real winner, with the pan-disability festival contested by 24 teams, including participants with cerebral palsy, autism and visual impairment, played out in a great spirit.
There are three end-of-season Disability Football Festivals taking place across the country, with Middlesbrough and Chelsea hosting the other two, Wolves having been asked to deliver in the central region for the second successive year.
“It was a real privilege to be asked to host this year’s festival at the Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground, and, for the second successive year, it proved a fantastic day,” said Luke Shearing, community and cohesion manager with Wolves Foundation.
“All the different Club Community organisations across the country aim to try and make football more inclusive to all, and this event offers young people with different disabilities the opportunity to get together and compete at such a fantastic facility at Wolves’ training ground.
“Here at Wolves, we continue to see the growth of our Football Disability set-up, which is also showcased with the half time game at our annual Foundation Focus Fixture, but it’s always good to catch up with colleagues at days like this, to share experiences and best practice.”
It wasn’t just about the football for participants with the Combat Community MMA Academy in attendance to lead the warm-up, deliver a segment in basic martial arts self-defence techniques and a fun cool down game at the end.
Each team also took part in a ‘Super Movers’ workshop including football and boccia, a paralympic sport similar to bowls. The initiative from BBC Teach, the Premier League and ParalympicsGB encourages all children to get active, and particularly aims to help disabled pupils feel more included in sport at school.
Special guests were two of the Foundation’s ‘own’ – staff member Damien Wood who has been capped 99 times by the England Deaf team, and volunteer Tayla Page, who plays for the England Amputee team and received the Foundation’s Leadership Award at last year’s inaugural gala dinner.
Foundation staff delivered the competition at Under-11 and Under-16 levels, which included round robin group stages before the knockout matches, and both Wolves Foundation teams put on a great showing.
The under-11s side put in some fantastic performances throughout the day, with victories against Manchester United and Cheltenham Town on the way to a 1-0 triumph over Burton Albion in the final.
The team were represented by Woodsetton Primary School, where Wolves Foundation staff deliver weekly SEND sessions (special educational needs and disabilities) to increase physical activity and mental wellbeing within SEND schools.
Meanwhile, despite not collecting silverware this time, the Under-16s team also put in some excellent displays, recording wins against Walsall, Burton and Bristol City and certainly doing Wolves proud.
Wolves Disability FC provides weekly training sessions and a programme of regular fixtures for over 80 participants across three different age groups.
Three adult teams, three under-16s and two under-12s play fixtures in the Staffordshire Ability Counts League, including at the home of English football at St George’s Park.
