Welcome to the Disabled Football Section at St. Albans City Youth F.C.

 

Ability Counts National Finals Championship Winners 2009

Download our new Disability Section Leaflet Click here

Background

St Albans City Youth set up a disability section in December 2005 which has been run from the beginning by coaches Daniel Rogers and Anthony Roche. The initial aim was to provide more opportunities for people with disabilities to play football than existed in the area previously. Any player of any age, with any disability, is welcome to join the team. The first training session was attended by just six players, but has grown year on year to the thirty five players that regularly attend now.

From the first training session we were able to grow quickly enough by word of mouth that we played our inaugural match on 13 March 2006 beating Hitchin Town Disability 6-2. For the past three seasons the team has played in the London and South East Ability Counts 11-a-side pan disability league and have just concluded their most successful season to date in 2008/9. The team plays at ‘Championship’ level which is the second highest of the four grades used in disability football (Premiership, Championship, League and Foundation).

Although there are challenges there are also great rewards and far more opportunities than a non-disability team would have. For example the team has played at Chelsea’s training ground in Cobham, at the Sixfields Stadium in Northampton, Craven Cottage (Fulham) and at various non-league grounds including Clarence Park, St Albans. The team is also regularly invited to attend other events such as England matches at Wembley. An important part of the work undertaken by the club is to hold coaching clinics at the various local schools and colleges that cater to people with disabilities. Some of our players have taken their Level One coaching qualification and help run these sessions.

In May 2009 the team had a successful trip to Holland where we took first place in a 7-a-side tournament hosted by Schiebroek ’94 of Rotterdam. For some of our players this was the first time they had been abroad, or the first time they had been away without their parents. For full details please follow this link. Click here

In July 2009 our first team won the FA Ability Counts South East region 7-a-side tournament at Championship level, with our second team runners up in the League category. As a result the first team qualified for the FA Ability Counts National Finals held at the David Beckham Academy in Greenwich, London. The tournament was held on 25 July 2009 and the team triumphed to become National Champions in the Championship category, a great achievement for such a young club. For full details please follow this link Click here

At St Albans our plan for 2009/10 is to run two squads, the first playing 11-a-side mainstream football in the North and Mid Herts League (as a disability team) and disability football in the London and South East League, with the second squad playing 7-a-side football in the Middlesex League and Hertfordshire League. The aim is to create a tiered progression of difficulty within the club whilst giving many more opportunities to play, at appropriate levels for the players we have.

We know that some players do not wish to play in matches and they are of course welcome to just come to training.

Middlesex 5-a-side disability league

for the league and championship level players

playing on first Sunday of the month

 ↓

Hertfordshire 7-a-side disability league

for the league and championship level players

playing on third Sunday of the month

  ↓

London and South East Ability Counts 11-a-side league

for the championship and premiership level players

playing on Sunday afternoon (approx 10 games)

  ↓

North and Mid Herts 11-a-side league (mainstream football)

for the championship and premiership level players

playing on Saturday afternoon (approx 20 games)

Training

New training times and venues for the Disability and Special Needs Squads are:

Players playing in the 11-a-side squad (and anyone from the 5/7-a-side squads who wants to join in)

Day: Wednesday

Time: 20.30-22.00

Cost: Taster session free then £2

Venue: St Michaels School, Garston  

High Elms Lane,
Garston,
Watford,
Hertfordshire
WD25 0SS

Can you all please arrive in good time for an 8.30pm start. The first 30 minutes will be on grass warming up and doing fitness work before going on the astro turf pitch at 9pm.

Players playing in the 5 or 7-a-side squads

Day: Friday

Time: 20.00-21.00

Cost: Taster session free then £2

Venue: Highfield Park astro turf pitch  

Fun football related sessions

Anyone who is attending both sessions can do so for a combined fee of £3.00

Want to join?

If you are a keen footballer with a disability, or know someone who is, we are always on the lookout for new talent. We are a pan disability team which means we can accept players of any age, with any disability such as:-

Special needs education, learning disability, visually impaired, hearing or balance impaired, missing or shortened limbs, cerebral palsy, physically impaired- caused by injury or disease, mental illness.

For more information contact Daniel Rogers at daniel@real-coaching.co.uk