The first round of the 2009-10 season of the Kent Junior Disability League proved to be a very memorable day for one of the teams competing. Maidstone United entered the first-ever all-girls team into the U16 division of the League. This event marked another milestone in terms of the development of disability football in Kent.
The team, who are coached by Matt Webster, are all deaf and have only been training together for a few weeks. Maidstone United achieved the prestigious Deaf Friendly Football Club award from the National Deaf Children’s Society in 2008 and now has a thriving deaf section of the club which caters for girls and boys aged 8-16-years-old. The award recognises that the club are inclusive when it comes to offering football opportunities for deaf children. Two of their Head Coaches have attended the Coaching Deaf Footballers course and they also have a qualified signer to help communicate at training and matches.
Disability Development Officer for Kent FA, Stephanie Gadd, said: "This is a fantastic achievement for the girls, the club and the Kent FA.
"It is great to see the girls competing together as a female only team and enjoying the experience. My colleague Liz Symons and I have worked hard to establish a girls' team in the County and we now hope that this team will inspire other girls to get involved in disability football, with the ultimate aim of creating a girls section of the League."
The girls' team also represented Kent at the National Deaf Children’s Society tournament in Coventry on Sunday 1 November. The team played fantastically well to finish second in the U16 Girls’ competition after competing in a round robin style format against Birmingham Girls FC and the eventual winners Everton Girls' FC.
For more information about disability football in Kent please contact
stephanie.gadd@kentfa.com or visit
www.KentFA.com/Development/DisabilityFootball