The current initiatives for disability football are aimed at creating youth player pathways and forming Ability Counts teams for adult players. Details are below. If you or your group are keen to get involved, please contact us.
Youth
Cornwall FA coaching sessions started in all four special schools in September 2008. The activity forms part of the player identification process to offer players further development opportunities by creating a network of district coaching centres. These centres will underpin a future county centre of excellence.
The annual special needs festival becomes bi-annual. The latest festival was on Thursday 25th September 2008 at St Blazey FC. In order to make the matches evenly contested, players were banded by ability prior to the festival. The format of the day was coaching sessions delivered by Cornwall FA coaches followed by small-sided games.
Adult
New teams have been created. Please see the link on the right for all the details.
It is hoped the teams will join the Devon and Cornwall Ability Counts league.
Inclusion is paramount and it is hoped that as many players as possible can experience football within the county.
The formation of female teams is also an aim at adult level.
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Football Day At School
Disabled footballers in Cornwall got the chance to hone their skills when Newquay Tretherras School opened their 3-G astro facility to players from Cornwall’s 4 special schools.
Resident Football Development Officer Tommy Matthews organised the afternoon in conjunction with the Cornwall FA who themselves have been very pro-active in promoting disability football in the county. Six clubs in Cornwall now have exit routes for players and a league is about to commence soon.
Twenty eight players enjoyed expert coaching from all of Cornwall’s team of FDOs and the players were put through their paces with dribbling, passing, and shooting the theme of the first half of the session. The second half consisted of a round robin tournament where four seven-a-side teams played each other and Tretherras provided a small team of eight sports leaders to help as “team managers”. At the end of an exhausting afternoon the players were all presented with certificates of participation and a medal for their efforts.
Cornwall’s County Development Manager Andy Mitchell said “The players really seemed to enjoy themselves and hopefully we may see a few of them progress into more regular football in the near future”. “It was an excellent opportunity for Newquay Tretherras to make its facility available”, said Richard Higginson, Head of PE “and we’d like to make this a more regular event at the school. “All the players had a fantastic time and the games at the end gave them the chance to play alongside students from other schools and they really entered into the spirit of the afternoon to make it a success”.