DSActives kicks-off Down's Syndrome Awareness Week

Under sunny skies at Fulham Football Club's Training Ground in Motspur Park, nine DSActive football teams from across the UK came together for the Premier League's Down's Syndrome Football Festival on Sunday 20th march.  The festival was made possible thanks to a donation of £19,333 from the Premier League and Football Aid benefitting the Down's Syndrome Association (DSA).  DSA Patron and professsional footballer, Kevin Kilbane added his full support by taking part in the warm up and cheering from the touchline whilst the games were underway.  The date of the festival was chosen to officially kick off National Down's Syndrome Awareness Week (21st - 27th March) and World Down's Syndrome Day (21st March).

Over 400 spectators watched on as 84 players represented the following teams:

• Fulham Badgers
• QPR Tiger Cubs
• Charlton Upbeats
• West Ham DS Hammers
• Ipswich Town FC Trust DS Team
• Hull Tigers Trust DS Team
• Cardiff City DS Bluebirds
• Harvesters FC DSActive
• Hereford DS Bulls*

Players aged 12 and under took part in a series of fun games, testing out their ball-control, passing, dribbling and shooting skills.  The over 13s took part in a round robin tournament, each plaing six games lasting eight minutes each.  The tournament was split into two groups; League 1 (Fulham Badgers, QPR Tiger Cubs, Charlton Upbeats and West ham DS Hammers) and League 2 (Ipswich Town FC Trust DS Team, Hull Tigers Trust DS Team, Cardiff City DS Bluebirds and Harvesters FC DSActive).

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League 1 saw some fantastic battles with the Charlton Upbeats emerging victorious following an unprecendented six wins from six matches.  League 2 was more fiercely contested, with the destination of the winners' trophy resting undecided until the final game, in which a defeat for Harvesters at the hands of Ipswich sealed victory for Cardiff, who recovered well after a slow start, by a margin of just one point.

DSA patron and professional footballer Kevin Kilbane, a former representative of several Premier League clubs and holder of over 100 caps for the Republic of Ireland, reflected:

"Numerous teams have joined since the launch of the Fulham Badgers in 2006 and now DSActive is benefing people with Down's syndrome through football.  Today's festival, I hope, is the first of many.  The DSA has been great to my family amongst many families.  It has been wonderful to come down and support the event."

Simon Morgan of the Premier League hopes that the festival will have served as a catalyst to get more people with Down's syndrome playing football:

"As part of the Premier League's Creating Chances programme, we've been involved with the Down's Syndrome Association for a while.  Fulham have a Down's syndrome team and I was involved in setting that up when I worked at the club and it's grown so quickly.

It's a perfect scheme for the Premier League to be involved with.  Days like this make a really positive difference to people with Down's syndrome.

They need the opportunity to participate in football and lead a more active lifestyle.  It also gives the players parents the opportunity to come together and share their experiences.  We've seen over the years through Fulham's involvement that it's been of a real benefit to the children with Down's syndrome.

The event has been a great experience for everyone involved.  The Hull team were telling me how they came down on the team bus, stayed overnight in a hotel and they've been treated fantastically well and are here enjoying their football now.  The event just proves the power of football has to reach everyone in the community.

This isn't a one off event for the Premier League.  The objective is to get more clubs involved so that these players get the opportunity to play weekly football with a competitive element.  It fits perfectly under our Creating Chances banner."

Carol Boys, Chief Executive of the DSA, expressed her delight at the success of the event:

"We are so pleased to have hosted the first national festival for players with Down's syndrome.  The DSA champions the rights of people with Down's syndrome, and one of these rights is to take part in and enjoy sports such as football.  We are proud to have been able to offer this opportunity to so many people with the condition and we hope to continue to do so in the future."

The DSActive programme aims to get as many children and young people with Down's syndrome playing football in an environment which is comfortable yet competitive.  This ethos was perfectly showcased as players from a wide spectrum of ability showed their skills, enjoying themselves in the process.  The DSA hopes the event will help the programme further the DSActive's aims, encouraging more clubs, players and parents to get involved and enjoy the programme.

* Hereford Bulls took part in the younger group fun activities.

If you are a football club or a coach and you would like to create a DSActive team, or if you are a player or parent and would like to get involved in the programme, please contact Scott Pollington Woods This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 0845 230 0372.