WFA and MD Campaign team up for Powerchair Football Week
Powerchair football players, managers, club founders, referees and supporters are being encouraged to share their love of the beautiful game. “Powerchair Football Week” is launched later this month to encourage more people of all ages to become involved.
The Wheelchair Football Association's sport will take over the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign’s website and social media between 25 November and 1 December, with information and advice on joining and forming clubs and the multiple benefits of taking part in the powerchair football.
People will also be encouraged to meet their local club, spectate at matches and try their hand at match reporting during the week-long celebration of the game. The brand new annual event is part of a partnership between the Wheelchair Football Association (WFA) and the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, which aims to further grow the burgeoning sport and to ensure people throughout the UK have the opportunity to participate locally.
Powerchair football is a highly inclusive sport, played indoors by mixed-gender teams using a larger 30cm diameter football and playing attachments fitted to the wheelchairs. An estimated 800 people currently take part in powerchair football through one of the WFA’s 42 affiliated clubs, with many more participating in the sport through schools, colleges and unaffiliated groups. Currently, at least 50 percent of players are known to have muscular dystrophy or a related neuromuscular condition.
The partnership between the WFA and Muscular Dystrophy Campaign will focus on highlighting the social and health benefits of powerchair football for both players and their families and working with existing clubs and players to promote ways for people to become involved, start playing and volunteering opportunities.
Powerchair football player Cath McNicol set up the Middlesbrough Powerchair Football Club last year, following six years playing for a club in Newcastle. She has the neuromuscular condition, spinal muscular atrophy. Cath said:
“For a long time there were no sports opportunities available locally for people with neuromuscular conditions like mine. In Middlesbrough football is really important. Everyone wants to play football, and that is no different for powerchair users. There is no feeling in the world like the euphoria of scoring a goal for your team, and too many people don’t know what that feels like.”
“We now have about 26 players each week between our beginner, intermediate and league team. Many of us had never had the chance to get involved in team sports. Everyone mucks in to keep the club going – it’s a real family. Powerchair football brings physical, psychological and social benefits and I would encourage anyone to get involved.”
Myles Miller is a teenaged football fan from East Peckham in Kent, who has congenital muscular dystrophy. At the age of 11 he made his debut for Sevenoaks PFC in the WFA National League and both his parents are now heavily involved in the club. Myles’ father Martin Miller said:
“Powerchair Football is now a major part of our life. I took the WFA’s coaching course and help with training sessions, while Myles’ mother is the Secretary for the club. My younger son Aaron is our team mascot. League weekends are almost like mini holidays for us, we travel up as an entire family. It’s given us a focus being so involved within the club and it’s provided us with a whole network of similar families who we now consider friends. It’s great that Myles has found a sport he loves and is part of a team with his peers. He says that powerchair football is the best thing in his life.”
Gary Kernahan from the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign said:
“Powerchair Football Week is an opportunity for us to showcase the best this exciting, thriving, inclusive sport has to offer. Whether your interest lies with getting out on the pitch, coaching young people or recording the action as a match reporter, we want to encourage people to meet their local club and get involved. We are delighted to be working alongside the WFA to promote participation in the game. Being part of a powerchair football club not only benefits players – it can also benefit their parents, siblings, partners and friends too. We are committed to helping promote and create opportunities for people with neuromuscular conditions to be part of the sport.”
Sam Bull, National Development Manager, for the WFA said:
“We are always looking for ways to raise the profile of Powerchair Football and recruit more people into the sport. The great work of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign and the people that our sport caters for makes our partnership the perfect match! Our sport is one of the fastest growing disability sports in the world, so it’s a great time to get involved. We have many stories of how Powerchair Football can have a positive impact on individual’s lives. Being part of a team offers real support on and off the pitch, and not only to the players but to everyone connected to them. Hopefully we can share these experiences with others. I am excited that Powerchair Football Week will become a real platform to showcase our fantastic sport and just how sport can transform people’s lives. We look forward to welcoming new people into the world of Powerchair Football.”
