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A soccer club offers young people with cerebral palsy the same opportunity to compete on equal terms. After launching just two years ago with a group of seven football-mad youngsters, Bristol City Cerebral Palsy Football Club’s numbers have skyrocketed to over 30, with players from across the South West.

According to the FA, more than 14 million people in England take part in grassroots football each year, making football the most popular team sport in England for children and adults. It may be a fertile breeding ground for launching top flight players of the future, but for most who step onto the pitch, taking part in the beautiful game is more about the positive boost it can give players on a mental level. , physical and mental. Social welfare.

BCCP FC was founded by Bob and Sue Young, with modest expectations, after years of trying to help their son Casey. Bob said: “When Casey was a little boy, he joined a youth soccer team, and I was a very proud father and I would stand there looking at him but never go near the ball. I tried to find something that would suit him with cerebral palsy, but there was nothing local.

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“So I decided to start the club with Bristol City on my own to make sure Casey had someone to look forward to in the future.” The team’s growing popularity came naturally, with Bob adding: field of dreams; ‘If you build it, they will come.’

The team has grown to include an older and younger squad and is open to players of all genders and abilities, whether they have played football before or not. Casey, now 16, is not only part of the club’s senior team but, along with two of his teammates, she has taken an FA level one coaching course and helps coach the juniors. 12 years old.

Bob says that he hopes the team will eventually grow and become self-sufficient. He said: “We’re not just creating footballers, who come and go, we’re creating people who really go out into the community and share their experience and hopefully carry on with Bristol City.”

As well as building the team’s confidence and skills, Bob says the team aims to create an environment where players can feel “safe, comfortable, happy and included”. Another father, Larson Taylor, described the team as a “God-send” for his son.

He said: “Just having the ability to talk to children who are waiting for operations, just like him. It’s just a massive support network for all the kids who are suffering with the same thing.”

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a lifelong condition that affects movement and flexibility. Larson explained that for the players, having a physical outlet that they enjoy that goes beyond mundane daily physical exercises has been invaluable.

And it’s not just the players who benefit. Bob said, “We found that we’re actually helping parents as well because all parents have something in common, they all have a child with cerebral palsy, they all have hospital appointments; we all help each other in different ways. ”

The team is completely self-funded, apart from his team, and often plays against other CP teams. Bob said that as far as the players are concerned, “every game is the World Cup,” but the atmosphere at the games is supportive and celebratory, with parents encouraged to cheer when opposing teams score a goal.

dream of copenhagen

Last year part of BCCP FC traveled to Dublin to compete in the Dublin International Junior CP Football Festival, and this year they have their sights set on a tournament in Copenhagen in August 2023. It will cost around £10,000 for the whole team. to attend, and a host of fundraising efforts are currently underway to raise the necessary money.

Casey instigated the fundraiser with a skydive, explaining: “I loved it when we went to Ireland. I loved playing competitively against teams on equal terms and meeting new people from all over the world.

“I want to go to this tournament with all my friends and not one of them be left behind because of money issues, so I decided to raise as much money as I could.” Casey raised £2467, but the team still has a ways to go, so along with other fundraising efforts, Larson will run the Bristol Half Marathon in full firefighter gear and breathing apparatus.

Bob says he knows it’s a difficult time to ask people for money and he understands that there are many worthwhile charities that people might choose to donate to. He said: “We’re trying to help a local community, and we’re really desperately trying to get the children of Copenhagen to do it, we’re changing lives; it’s making a difference.”

Those who wish to donate to his appeal can do so here, and anyone interested in learning more about BCCP FC can visit their website.

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