Community Trust launch Down's syndrome football team

Swansea City's Community Trust have teamed up with DSActive to launch new football coaching sessions for adults with Down's syndrome.

Kicking off at Playfootball Swansea on May 2, the sessions will run from 6-7.30pm and will cost just £4 per session with the aim of creating a self-sustaining team that has its own management and committee structure.

Created in response to the awareness of the sedentary lifestyles of many people with Down's syndrome and the subsequent health problems, DSActive is a sports programme aiming to improve sporting opportunities people with Down's syndrome.

Running over 40 football sessions throughout the UK, DSActive has partnered with an array of community trusts and foundations - including Fulham, Crystal Palace, Norwich and Portsmouth - and will now deliver sessions in South Wales.

Through this partnership, the Swans' football team with Down's syndrome will not only be subject to top quality coaching on a regular basis under the guidance of qualified and experienced coaches and volunteers, they will also have the opportunity to play against other teams across the country.

The launch of the football sessions for Down's syndrome comes after the Community Trust introduced inclusive tennis sessions through our Premier League 4 Sport project that offer tennis coaching for those with a disability.

"This is another exciting development for our inclusion programme and it is great that we can do something football related targeted at adults," said the Trust's inclusion senior manager Richard Jones.

"The main aim of this is to ensure that it is set up well from the start to ensure its longevity and therefore it is fundamental that we get the infrastructure of the team right, not just the coaching.

"Over the next six months, we will be working hard recruiting administrative volunteers, as well as coaches to make this is a sustainable project."
 

For more information, or if you are interested in volunteering, please contact Richard on Richard@scfccommunitytrust.co.uk