Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
After years of leading the way in grassroots soccer inclusivity, Sorrento Football Club is preparing its next venture with an all-abilities team for kids with disabilities.
The northern suburbs club is exploring adding the i-League to its range of welcoming programs. This is a non-competitive soccer tournament delivered by the Football Futures Foundation, enabling kids aged six to 13 with disability or developmental delays to play the sport.
Club volunteer Kaye Harnwell has been involved at Sorrento for more than 40 years, and is responsible for launching several inclusive initiatives across the club.
She developed the Go Girls program offering skills sessions and holiday clinics for young girls, and the walking football for elderly players. Now she’s focused on organising a junior all-abilities team.
“At 76 I thought ‘I’m running out of time, I need to get these things going and get them organised’,” she said.
“(The all-abilities) is a very informal program, it’s more based on the child’s needs. It’s a very fluid program, all types of needs are catered for. It’s just training once a week for an hour; we just have to wait and see the numbers and what night suits most people.”
The i-League games are played for one hour on Sundays against other northern clubs who have registered a team, such as Dianella Junior Soccer Club.
Individual clubs are expected to take on the responsibility of organising training and equipment, but i-League officials are there to offer support and guidance.
Ms Harnwell’s granddaughter Jenna plays for Sorrento and has worked with the All Abilities Foundation for three years.
“She volunteered to be the coach if grandma could help organise it and sort of do the admin,” she said.
“We’ve always been advocates of children with disabilities. My father was disabled so we’ve been in that community for many years. We’ve always wanted to do it, it was just getting it off the ground and now trying to get the numbers.”
The club received a $1m grant from the State Government to upgrade its facilities at Percy Doyle Reserve ahead of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
This included new accessible changerooms for people with disabilities.
“We put it in so there’s a level section straight off the pitch, because before at Sorrento it was all steps and downhill. So we are more equipped now to handle the all abilities,” she said.
Currently, Ms Harnwell has had about 10 people show interest, and hopes to hold a come and try day before the end of the year.
The juniors officially begin in April, but the club would aim to host training sessions from February to get everyone prepared.
“There’s always talk about what do we do for the others who aren’t able to participate. I’m sure there is a need — the i-League has grown enormously over the few years it’s been created,” Ms Harnwell said.
“We’d love to get it up and running, we’d love the community support. We’ve got so many people willing to volunteer their time to help at training and things, it’s just a case of getting the word out there.”
Anyone interested can email Ms Harnwell at harnwell@iinet.net.au for more information.
