Essex football club Healthy4Life in FA Disability Cup Quarters
Essex will be represented in the FA Disability Cup Quarter-Finals this Sunday (kick-off 1:30pm) when FA Charter Standard club Healthy4Life welcome Charlton Deaf to Brightlingsea Regent FC’s North Road ground.
The FA Disability Cup is an 11 against 11 men’s competition which was launched last year to build on the momentum of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, when the profile of both the Blind and Cerebral Palsy formats was raised. Clubs compete from across the country in Northern and Southern sections, the winners of which face each other in a final. Healthy4Life beat St Alban’s City 8-0 in the previous round last Sunday.
Healthy4Life enable adults with a learning disability to access football in Colchester, Tendring, Witham and Braintree. They run both men’s and ladies’ teams, and have been active in the sport since arranging kickabouts in Colchester’s Castle Park from May 2005. The aims of the project include helping vulnerable people realise their potential, developing personal skills and improving on compliance, assertiveness and confidence.
The project is run voluntarily by Community Nurse Mo Seeraullee and Occupational Therapist Carolyn Rogers thanks to financial support from NHS North East Essex (Health Improvement), which was secured in July 2009 for a five-year period. The funding helps with the running of the project and gives people with a learning disability access to football activities.
Healthy4Life also promote a healthy lifestyle and physical activity, address inequalities through weekly training with qualified coaches and work closely with the Essex County FA to link with affiliated clubs. Each individual receives regular assessments on their wellbeing and health, plus their football skills.
Jeff Davis, The FA’s Head of Disability Football, said:
“The FA Disability Cup allows pan-disability teams from different regions to participate on an eleven-a-side basis against each other in a national competition. We didn’t win any medals for football at London 2012 but the impact that disability football made has been enormous.”
This article is adapted from the Essex FA website story.
