The Special Olympics Football Event was hosted jointly by Goals Football Centre and Crown Hills Community College. There was a 5 a side competition for men’s and ladies teams and also an ‘11’ a side competition for the men. Both facilities hosted catering, merchandise, players and spectator areas. The FA Tesco Skills Coaches and Leicester City Football in the Community Coaches were present everyday, offering football fun and skills challenges with trophies awarded to respective winners.
All the players in the two squads, East Midlands 1 and East Midlands 2, play regular football for Inclusive Clubs in the Leicestershire & Rutland Inclusive Football League and represent Leicestershire and Rutland in the East Midlands Pan Disability Football League, so SOL 2009 was a great opportunity for the players to take part in a National Competition. Both teams sure had a very tough, but thoroughly enjoyable week of competition.
Our 2 football teams stayed in the De-Montfort University Halls of Residence at Liberty Park, a stones throw away from the Walkers Stadium, the home of our great Local Football Club, Leicester City FC.
Leicester City FC was the hub of the games, hosting the Olympic Village and being the host for breakfast, dinner and entertainment in the evening for many teams. We were all catered for superbly by all the staff at the Walkers Stadium. There was always a terrific atmosphere between staff, volunteers, coaches, athletes and teams from other regions from around England, Wales and Scotland.
Of course, the Walkers Stadium was also the venue for the Opening Ceremony for the Games and what a truly exhilarating experience that was for the athletes and coaches from all the sports, it was a very proud moment indeed for everyone involved to parade around the pitch with the whole of the East Midlands Team and we sure did receive a rapturous reception.
The Football started on Sunday 26th July, with teams taking part in a divisioning process, which takes place to ensure, as much as possible, all teams compete on a level playing field.
The competition started on Tuesday 28th July, with East Midlands 1 being in Division 1 and East Midlands 2 competing in Division 2, which looked as if it was going to be a tough league from the start.
In Division 1, East Midlands 1, were one of 6 teams. The players had 4 fantastic wins out of the first 4 games against Grampian, South East, Yorkshire & Humberside & Tayside, which led nicely into a game on the final day, which turned out to be for Silver of Gold, according to who won the game. The Scotland West team who we were to play, had convincingly beaten every team in the division, so the boys in blue, under the guidance of coaches Craig Collins, David Tenant & Ian Smith from Aylestone Park Football Club, needing to be in top form, to Go for Gold!
The game was full of pace and the East Midlands team battled well to keep the Scottish team from scoring. However, East Midlands were awarded a penalty for an infringement in the ‘D’ area and took the lead from the spot, with a well placed goal from John Astle. The game continued to be competitive throughout. Scotland West played the ball around well and soon got the equaliser. East Midlands were then awarded another penalty for an infringement by the keeper and again a fantastic penalty was scored under pressure from Martin Oswin. Scot West were resilient and the East Midlands players were giving them a tough contest, but in the last 5 minutes Scot West managed to score the winning goal, with the final score being 3-2 to Scotland West A. The East Midlands 1 team were very well deserved winners of the Special Olympics Silver Medal in Division 1, a fantastic achievement and experience for all the players and coaching staff involved. Of course, the players now say they are the ‘Best in England’ and rightly so!!
East Midlands 1 Squad: Thomas Smith (Goalkeeper), Martin Oswin, Jamie Milner, Craig Allen, Shaun Bundhoo, Shaun Harris, John Astle, Joe Tinkler.
The East Midlands 2 team, were placed in Division 2 and faced quite a challenge, competing against teams representing regions from Scotland West, Northern, West Midlands 1 & 2, Southern and the Forth Valley. The players competed well against all the teams, with great performances from the Goalkeeper Leigh Brown saving shots with all parts of his body! Coaching Staff, Sue Mangham and Mary Rudkin were working hard to keep the players heads up, but with a few goals being scored against them by more mobile teams, this was a difficult task. The players were really working hard and sticking to their task, managed to score a few goals on the final day to raise the spirits of the squad. Overall the team had played brilliantly against stronger opposition. The East Midlands 2 team finished 7th in their division, again earning a well deserved medal for their tremendous efforts throughout the weeks play.
East Midlands 2 Squad: Leigh Brown (Goalkeeper), Laurence Holmes, Paul Atterbury, Muyed Uddin, Paul Thornton, Andy Thornton, Adam Motley, Tendai Chidombwe-Wilcox.
The awards ceremony for the football event was again a very proud moment for all players and coaching staff to be part of. Cheers and friendly banter was apparent throughout the event.
The Special Olympics National Summer Games 2009 in Leicester was a truly great experience for all those involved, not only from a sporting point of view, but also from a social aspect, making new friends from around the UK and joining in with all the friendly banter and the sharing of success and competition.
Football is a great environment for adults, youngsters, males and females with learning difficulties, physical or sensory impairments to be involved in. Throughout Leicestershire & Rutland, key partners – County FA, Inclusive Football Partnership, Leicester City FC, provide opportunities for players to be involved in football on a regular basis, please see the contact details below for further information:
Mary Rudkin – Football Development Officer – Inclusive (Disability) Football
Office: 0116 2844952
mary.rudkin@LeicestershireFA.com