Maidstone United honoured at Anfield.
Maidstone United walked away with the Deaf Friendly Football Club of the Year award after beating 55 other clubs including professional clubs such as Everton, Fulham and Birmingham City.
The award was presented in front of The FA's National Disability Manager, Jeff Davis, and former Portsmouth player, Alan Knight MBE, at the Deaf Friendly Football Club conference at Anfield. The award recognises the efforts the club have made to become more inclusive and accessible to deaf players.
The Deaf Friendly Football Club pledge is an initiative that was launched by the National Deaf Children’s Society at the beginning of 2007. The scheme aims to educate football clubs at all levels about the issues deaf players face and how to ensure they can enjoy their football in a safe and inclusive environment. Part of the pledge involves coaches attending the 'Coaching Deaf Footballers' course as well as football-specific sign language courses.
Maidstone United are worthy winners. John Harvey and his son, Tyke, have spearheaded the development of the deaf section of the club and without their commitment and enthusiasm the club would not be as progressive as it is today.
The disability section of the club was created in 2004 and now has over 70 youth and adult players including the recently created deaf section which caters for over 20 players.
The club also employs two signers to help communicate at training and matches. Not satisfied with these achievements, they have put considerable time and effort into successfully establishing a female deaf team, one of the few in the country. Maidstone United and Swanscombe Tigers, the other deaf friendly football club in Kent, both now have players which represent the County.
Stephanie Gadd, Disability Football Development Officer at the Kent FA said: "It is a fantastic achievement for Maidstone United to be awarded Deaf Friendly Football Club of the Year. We have worked in partnership with the club since the project was launched and it fantastic to see them rewarded for all their efforts. The award is thoroughly deserved. I hope other clubs look to follow their example."
To celebrate the achievements of all the deaf friendly football clubs, club representatives were treated to an exclusive tour of the historic Anfield stadium including a trip down memory lane through the club’s history in the club's museum.
For more information about the Deaf Friendly Football Club project please visit www.ndcs.org.uk. To get involved is disability football in Kent please e-mail Stephanie.Gadd@KentFA.com
