Castle Juniors Football Club secures Disability Sport NI Inclusive Club Award (Mainstream)

Castle Juniors Football Club in Bangor secured the Disability Sport NI Inclusive Club Award for Mainstream Clubs.

The Disability Sport NI Inclusive Club Award recognises sports clubs who have made noteworthy improvements or introduced innovative programmes to include people with disabilities in the last 12 months.

The award was presented to the Chairman of the Club, Trevor Reid and the Lead Disability Coach, Robbie Reid by Disability Sport NI Honorary President Dr Janet Gray MBE at the Disability Sport NI AGM.

Castle Juniors Football Club is a mainstream football club that is being recognised for its great work in making the club inclusive of people with a disability. The club provides weekly structured coaching sessions for players of varying ages, gender and abilities and includes players who have learning and physical disabilities.

The disability section of the club has become a key and critically important strand of the club’s football programme and there are currently two teams competing in the Irish FA Foundation and USEL Disability Leagues.  To support inclusion, club coaches also completed the Irish FA Level 1 Coaching Disabled Footballers Award.

As a result of the club’s inclusion work, players with a disability have benefitted from their involvement in the club and now regularly experience opportunities for fun, friendship and fitness. Many players with disabilities have also much more confidence and self-esteem as a result of the club’s inclusion programme. Also non- disabled players in the Academy programme have benefitted from their engagement with disabled players and now have a much greater awareness of the disability sector.