'Every Player Counts' - that’s the message from Mansfield Town Football in the Community who work week in, week out to provide inclusive coaching sessions for children with disabilities.
Working in partnership with community schemes from Notts County and Nottingham Forest - as part of the Notts Disability Football Family - Football in the Community offer sessions based on inclusion for students with a range of disabilities.
Jordan Ferrer, disability football officer, said: “This year we’ve focused on inclusion, with the aim being to get everyone with a disability participating in some form of sporting activity at least once a week.
“For youngsters especially, it can be a horrible experience being excluded from PE sessions and playground games because of disability. Therefore, we make all our sessions as competitive and fun as possible and make sure that every player counts.
“We work with PAN Disabilities, which covers a range of disabilities including wheelchair users, students with cerebral palsy, learning disabilities and more.
“The majority of our sessions are football based, adapted to the individual needs of each participant, however we also place a big emphasis on teamwork and communication skills through playing other sports.”
Football in the Community currently deliver disability coaching to three schools, working with around 30 students.
Over the course of an academic year, they work with six schools on their sites, offer matchday experiences at One Call Stadium to three groups, and also hold tournaments and festivals for schools and disability groups from local sports clubs, working in total with upwards of 150 young people.
For further information, contact Jordan Ferrer on 01623 656 920 or email jordan.ferrer@mansfieldtown.net.
