Football for All
impulse
The beautiful game enjoyed in beautiful spirit. The world’s first football league for autistic children is changing the lives of families across Scotland. Words by Cameron Wanstall
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The whole day was just fabulous. Win, lose, draw, whatever. These kids just had the time of their lives.” These are the words of Trish Sime, Bonnyrigg Rose Football Club Development Manager. A turning up of the nose to the outcome of a competitive sports match is ordinarily a major no-no, but this is no ordinary competition we are discussing. This is the world’s first ever Autism Football League. Never before has there been an opportunity for youths with autism to play in a competitive, though safe and structured, environment. Until now. The ground-breaking initiative, devised by the award-winning charity Team United, features several teams - including established professional football clubs such as Hibernian, Livingston, and Partick Thistle - forming both a league and cup competition. Bonnyrigg Rose are another founding club that have put together a squad of youths to participate in the innovative competition and Sime, who in her role oversees the community club’s contribution to the project, is eager to express the joy she has witnessed so far. The word fabulous is fittingly used multiple times. Sime’s visible pride is not only for the years of hard work put into getting the league started, or for the Rose’s involvement in helping to build its foundations, but more so for the delight on the faces of the boys and girls competing on the pitch. A wonderful sight many helpers and parents could never have imagined. “It’s an amazing thing to see every week. You leave with that kind of feel good factor… For as much as they’re all very different, in terms of their autistic traits - even physically as some kids
may struggle with coordination - the second these kids get on the pitch, it’s gone. Absolutely gone. There’s a mutual respect and support for each other between these kids. It’s fabulous to see.” An absolute insistence on making the project inclusive for all, no matter a family’s situation, is another source of pride for Bonnyrigg Rose and other clubs. “Part of our club’s strategy is very much looking at inclusion - both from a football and community perspective. We want to be in a position where anybody who wants to be a part of whatever’s going on, they are welcome to join. “There is never a fee for anything, we don’t charge for anything. We get them kitted out and anything that’s going on, the club will support or contribute towards.” Structure is a word that has appeared a lot when discussing the Autism Football League and Sime is keen to explain why organisation is pivotal to the project. “Autistic kids tend to need structure. They need to know what’s going on and when it’s going on… Change can throw them and they can struggle with that, so everything really needs to be routined. “When we got strips for the tournament, they don’t have any numbers on them because the kids then think ‘that’s my number forever.’ Things we don’t think about and take for granted, these kids have a different thinking process for. Structure is really important for them.” Charity, inclusion, and structure are clearly the three key elements that made this marvellous project possible. Who knows, maybe a few more helping hands and we can prepare for a Champions League expansion in the future.
“It’s an amazing thing to see every week, you leave with that kind of feel good factor”
Left Competitive spirit on show Right “Get in there!”
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