A £5,000 Grow the Game grant from the Football Foundation will help develop disabled female players and train six coaches in the Cheshire Disability Social League.
The league, which is just completing its first season, fields 12 teams of players with learning disabilities who receive day services from Cheshire West and Chester Council.
Drawn from Ellesmere Port, Chester, Northwich, Winsford, Frodsham and rural areas, the seven-a-side teams – 10 male and two female – play monthly on the all-weather pitches at Goals in Bumpers Lane, Chester.
Chairwoman of the league is Denise Garner, a business development manager with CWaC, whose current role includes modernising the day services provided by the local authority.
She said: “We are really pleased the Football Foundation has chosen to invest in Cheshire Disability Social League. The grant will enable us to increase the participation of disabled players in football.
“We have 10 people who have completed the FA’s level one coaching and two who have gained disability coaching. We are hoping some of the service users will be able to do the level one coaching course.”
Denise explained that coaching sessions are adapted around people’s needs and that different levels of support are needed for the players, who are aged between 19 and 65.
The league is the result of a partnership between Cheshire FA and Cheshire West and Chester Council.
Grow the Game funding is delivered in partnership with all of the 46 County FAs and funded by The FA.
Paul Thorogood, chief executive of the Football Foundation, said: “Congratulations to Cheshire Day Service FC for working with the Cheshire Football Association to secure their £5,000 Grow the Game grant, which will increase participation in the region as well as support football development in the area.”
