Cerebral palsy (CP) football training for girls will start this Saturday at Fulham Football Club’s training ground.
The Fulham FC Foundation have partnered with CP Sport, a national disability sports organisation, supporting people with CP, to offer coaching for girls aged 5-16 with CP and acquired brain injuries.
In the UK there are approximately 160,000 people with CP and 1.3m with acquired brain injuries.
DisAbility Development Manager at Fulham FC Foundation and Coach for England Women’s CP Development Pathway Katy Shephard said: “There aren’t a lot of young girls with CP playing football in the country.
“I am sure there are more out there that would like to be playing football.
“It’s about taking barriers away so that they can play somewhere that they can feel happy, safe and comfortable, that is our main aim.
“A parent reached out to me the other day and said she’s been looking for something for so long that really suits her child, to know that her daughter with cerebral palsy now has this opportunity, it just made her day.”
The training sessions are open to girls with any level of experience.
CP football is a 7-a-side game with inbuilt inclusion, requiring a team with different levels of impairment.
It is fast paced, with two 30-minute halves, no offside rule and permission for one-handed throw-ins or roll-ins.
Fulham FC offer 20 different para football sessions weekly, including Pan DisAbility, Active Autism, Blind and Partially Sighted Football as well as Fulham Badgers, their Down’s syndrome club.
The new girls CP session will run at the same time as Frame Football, which is played by people with walking frames and has many CP players.
Shephard explained: “Some of our frame users occasionally come out of their frames and start running around unaided for short periods which is brilliant.
“We also have a young lady who plays in our Para Talent Hub currently.
“She has a younger brother who plays as well at academy level at another club.
“Being able to have something in common with her brother, that they both play football, it’s really helped them as a family unit.”
The CP World Cup is in Spain this November and England’s CP Men will be competing, but the women’s squad is still in development.
When asked about when we can expect to see England’s CP Women competing internationally, Shephard said: “As soon as we can and when the time is right for them.
“We are working with the women’s development squad, and they train regularly at St George’s Park, within the national emerging talent pathway so they are regularly training at amazing facilities and getting good quality coaching.”
Anyone interested in joining the training can go to www.fulhamsoccerschools.com and select cerebral palsy in the activity type.
Featured image: Cristiano Pinto via Unsplash
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