The new team has been formed on the back of a successful FA School Club Link which was organised by the Surrey County FA.
Oliver Selfe Senior Football Development Officer at the Surrey County FA commented: We have taken two specials schools in the area and linked them with a Charter Standard Development Club Croydon Borough Girls F.C the aim was to signpost pupils from the schools to the club to form a new disability football team. The project involved 8 weeks school coaching which was delivered by Crystal Palace F.C this was followed by 4 after school coaching sessions which Croydon Borough Girls have delivered. It’s been a very interesting project and all parties involved have learnt a great deal. It’s fantastic to finally bring everything together and see the new team training on a weekly basis.
Planning for the project started back in September 2008 and has involved a number of meetings with the schools and the club.
Richard Gunney Football Development Officer for Surrey FA explains: “There has been a lot of planning involved in this particular project and a number of key elements have been essential to its success. Firstly we had to identify the special schools to work with and ensure that the pupils at both schools were of a similar ability. It was then essential to find a club that we felt could support the new team and then ensure that the schools and the club communicate with each other to assist the Surrey County FA in the planning. We then had to identify and secure a facility that the new team could train at. This facility needed to be within close proximity to the schools and the club. We also have had to source three volunteers to run the new team and finally secure some funding to make sure that the new team had the financial support to become sustainable.
Robin Barwick from Bensham Manor Special school added:
The project has made an excellent start which has is due largely to the preparatory work undertaken by the Surrey FA before hand. Selecting appropriate schools where the pupils are receptive to attending a football club and a school of sufficient size to generate a meaningful numbers who will attend a club has been crucial and also selecting a supportive club such as Croydon Borough Girls who are genuine about developing in this area.
It has been really encouraging to see the number of children who have made the transition from the school sessions to the evening club sessions. It is significant that most of these children do not get the opportunity to participate in extra curricular activity and do not attend other after school clubs. The children have also got on really well with the children from the other school and are building friendships which would not have otherwise developed.
The new team is pan-disability which means that children with all mixed disabilities are welcome. The players are aged between 12-16 years old and we would welcome new players who are interested in joining the team. The new squad are now training on a weekly basis and plan to represent the club as Croydon Community FC who will play in the new Surrey County Disability League.
Surrey FA would like to thank the following organisations for their support to this project. Bensham Manor Special School, Beckmead Special School, Crystal Palace Community Sport Trust, The Football Foundation and Croydon Borough Council Sports Development Team.