Training The Next Paralympians

Sarah Griffiths, England

England Football (The FA) and Goal Click teamed up for a special series telling the story of disability football in England through the eyes and words of those involved across elite and grassroots disability football - including players, coaches, young leaders, and referees.

My name is Sarah Griffiths. I have two jobs - a paid job and a volunteer role. My day (and sometimes night) job is as a hospital doctor in acute general medicine and geriatrics at Oxford University Hospitals.

In my spare time I am Disability and Inclusion Officer for Summertown Stars AFC in Oxford, and run the Summertown Warriors, a football team for children with Cerebral Palsy and other physical disabilities. I was also recently asked to join the Frame Football Development Group which aims to increase participation and opportunities in football for children who use walking frames.

I got involved in football through my three children.  My eldest started playing when he was four, and at the age of 14 he plays for Oxford United Academy. Before this, I had never watched a full 90-minute game of football! My younger two girls play for Summertown Stars AFC. Our weekends involve a LOT of football.

It all started when I took over the annual football match between two local state schools, where the emphasis was very much on participation and inclusion.

I loved seeing how children’s confidence grew through playing as part of a team and how this benefited them in other aspects of their lives. Kids who did not see themselves as sporty or talented suddenly did and started signing up to local clubs.

I was hooked! I then expanded it to become a large tournament between six local primary schools in north Oxford, involving boys’ and girls’ teams at all age groups. Following on from this, I became co-chair for the Summertown Stars annual tournament. It is huge, we think the largest tournament in southeast England, and involves over 3000 children playing over a weekend in June.

This led to a role on the executive committee of the football club, with responsibility for increasing participation opportunities for children who do not always get the chance to play.

I got in touch with the brilliant people at Oxfordshire FA, who told me there was no team for kids with Cerebral Palsy within a two-hour radius, highlighting a gap in provision. They connected me to Cerebral Palsy Sport and set up a meeting with Rich Kerr, the National Football Development Officer at the charity and he gave me lots of crucial support to set up a team.

Starting a team from scratch was challenging: the kids (and their parents) did not necessarily see themselves as footballers and our advertising had to reach far and wide - through the NHS, physio networks, schools, and charities. Our first session had only four players but through persistence and word of mouth we have expanded to nearly 30 kids on our books.

It has been so wonderful to see the children develop over the last few years, both physically and emotionally. However tired we are feeling after a hard week of work, we come away from each session feeling inspired and full of joy!  It really is such a privilege to be part of it.

The photos were taken during our fortnightly training sessions at Phil & Jim Primary School, in north Oxford, on their Astroturf, which is a godsend during the winter months.

I wanted to show the enjoyment the children get from playing football and their passion for the game. Football training gives them valuable exercise, allows them to develop new skills and encourages teamwork. It is also massively beneficial for their development, as keeping active is crucial if you have Cerebral Palsy.

All the children are absolute superstars who are constantly overcoming multiple challenges every day.

Jenson started playing with us when he was 4 and is so committed to improvement. The coaches were stunned and very emotional when he played a game without using his frame.

Maeve is really determined and a super-fast frame football player - we joke that we should be giving her speeding tickets!

Thomas came to our very first session and he was very shy and withdrawn initially. Watching him blossom and seeing the connections develop between teammates and the importance of playing with people who look like him (his words) has been very rewarding.

Sonny is one of our older players and one of our newest recruits. He is wonderfully vocal about how much he loves “his team”.

Maybe even more importantly, I wanted to capture the powerful sense of community we have found developing among our families: the siblings playing in the background; the parents chatting over coffee. The connections between these parents and families, who face so many additional challenges in their lives, are profound.

Summertown Stars, the parent club, has nearly 800 kids playing in teams. At some age groups there can be as many as six teams. We have girls’ teams in every age group up to Under 18 and are growing all the time. We aim never to turn away a child who wants to play football and often create new teams to accommodate new players.

The coaches are all volunteers, mostly parents who have done their FA level 1 coaching badge. The club is at the heart of the community. Lifelong friendships are formed on pitch and on side lines. Some of our best friends are the parents of our kids’ teammates.

The red and white stripes of the kit are seen all over North Oxford - in shops, cafes, and on the pavements of our local area every weekend. For the younger kids especially, they really enjoy feeling part of something bigger than themselves and wear their shirt with pride.

COVID has reduced the opportunity for our CP team, the Warriors, to interact with players from other teams, but we cannot wait for them to be a part of the annual tournament when it restarts this year.

For a disabled child, this sense of belonging to a mainstream community will, we hope, be powerful.

What hopes for the future?

In our club, we would like to have enough children in each age band to be able to field teams for both frame and ambulant (those who do not need a frame to walk) CP football leagues.

We have ambitions to become a national centre for CP football. We would love to host games on the new 3G football pitch which is at the heart of our community.

I really hope our experience will inspire other clubs to start disability sessions by showing them just how fun and rewarding it can be.

We would like there to be enough CP teams across the country to make it possible to form leagues. I am trying to help other clubs do this and ensure that kids with CP know of their closest opportunity to play football. This includes running workshops with Oxfordshire FA with tips on how to start disability sessions.

To anyone with CP I would say: Just come along, make some new friends, and have fun! You will be welcomed with open arms, be taught some skills, and become part of a wonderful community.

Our players love it. You do not have to have even kicked a ball before to give it a go.

Football has such potential to unite people, drive societal change, and push inclusion. The FA have a new disability strategy called “Football, Your Way”, which is fantastic and will increase opportunities for individuals with disabilities to play the beautiful game across the country.

It may be aiming high, but one day, I would love to see Frame Football in the Paralympics.

I am excited to see our current children grow up and develop their skills. I am convinced we have a future Paralympian in our midst. Watch this space…