skip navigation

Coaching Disabled Footballers Going Forward

By OSA News, 02/10/15, 8:30PM EST

Share

At the completion of this week’s four courses entitled Coaching Disabled Footballers we now have 72 coaches from 29 different clubs across Ontario with an awareness and understanding of adaptations that can be made to the game in order for everyone to participate.

Our candidates came from a range of backgrounds including teachers and Technical Directors but overwhelmingly these were grassroots club coaches who are either running programs right now, or have identified a need for something to start happening in their local community.

All were committed, thoroughly engaged in what they were hearing and enthused as they left the course.

Observing the course candidates it was interesting to see the coming together of Club Coaches who were comfortable putting on a session and had no knowledge of disability sport compared, with the parents who lived everyday with their disabled athletes but had limited soccer knowledge.

FA Tutor Kevin England created just the right environment for all participants to feel comfortable in both sharing their experience and asking questions without fear of embarrassment. Creating that atmosphere early in the course enabled a constant flow of discussion and set things up nicely for the practical sessions where candidates delivered a model session for: blind, learning disabled, deaf and players with cerebral palsy.

Without a doubt the blind soccer caught everyone’s imagination and leveled the playing field when it came to shooting at the goal.

This summer the sport will be demonstrated in partnership with the Ontario Blind Sport Association at events in Toronto, Scarborough, Sudbury, London and Simcoe County.

The OSA’s website, which includes our own Coaching Disabled Footballers Manual, also provides a revised list of grassroots Club programs which serve this special group of athletes.

A full list of Clubs represented: Pickering SC, Oshawa Kicks, Barrie SC, Sudbury SA, Ottawa Internationals, Cataraqui Clippers, Whitby Iroquois SC, Richmond Hill SC, Unionville Miliken SC, Milton SA, North Toronto SC, Unionville Miliken SC, Darlington SC, Ajax FC, FEDS North, Durham United, North Mississauga SC, Oakville SC, Saltfleet Go-Ahead SC, Woodstock SC, Waterloo MSC, Nor'West Soccer, Ancaster SC, Hamilton Sparta, RDVL Academy, Ottawa South United, West Ottawa SC, ONE SC and Kingston Utd

For more program details contact a club listed above or the OSA.