Foundation launches cerebral palsy football team

Tottenham Hotspur Foundation held the first training session for its new cerebral palsy (CP) football team over the weekend.

The session at Mulberry Academy Woodside, off White Hart Lane, preceded games in the CP Development League to begin in November.

Among players was versatile defender Christian McDonald, 31, who has represented Northern Ireland over 100 times and was picked to represent Great Britain at the 2012 Paralympics in London.

He first got into football through the Foundation at the age of six and is returning to captain the team.

He said: “People with CP and disabled people in general need a place where they can express themselves and their talent, no matter what that talent is. The fact is, there aren’t a lot of places you can go.

“I wanted to be a footballer from a very young age, but I’d never in a million years have thought I could play this wonderful game, let alone represent Tottenham Hotspur, the club I hold dearly and have always supported. It’s an absolute honour and privilege, and I’ll never be able to give enough thanks.”

The standards Christian will set are exemplified by how he describes “only” having reached the semi-finals of the European Championship and World Cup with Northern Ireland.

His successful career started out under the tutelage of “father figure” and long-standing Foundation programme coordinator John Abel, who will be taking charge of the CP team this season.

John said: “Being able to offer this is important because it gives these boys the opportunity to be on an equivalent pathway with an able-bodied player. If you watch CP football, you’ll see a very good standard, a group of players who want to enjoy it and put in 100% all the time. Inclusivity is our guiding principle at the Foundation and we ensure everyone has a place to belong.”

CP is a heath condition affecting movement and coordination, primarily caused by a shortage of oxygen in parts of the brain before, during or soon after birth.

In CP football, players are assigned a classification, ranging from minimally impaired to significantly impaired, based on their range of movement and the location of their impairment. There is a limit on the number of players from each classification allowed on the pitch at any one time. Matches are seven a-side and most often two halves of 30 minutes.

Some of the younger contingent in the Foundation team include Sam Alfassa, Mitchell Burn and Reks Marku.

Mitchell’s dad, Rob Burn, said: “To come and do this opens up their world. They’re equal here and it’s freedom for them – they’re thriving here.”

Sam’s dad, Ilan, agreed: “It’s fantastic for the boys to have this opportunity to play with Tottenham and other boys who have the same disabilities.

“You can see how happy they are – Sam’s buzzing. This is really great for their confidence.”

Reks’s dad, Isa, added: “It’s amazing when they play each other here because it feels like none of them have any physical issues. It’s great to see everyone equal.”