As the excitement of the World Cup slowly fades the buzz around the BBFA Pledge Project continues to heat up this July going from strength-to-strength as three more grassroots clubs sign up for the programme. 

We are delighted to welcome Buckingham Athletic, Burnham FC and the Partially Sighted Super Stars into the Pledge Family.

Following a recent presentation to the Thames Valley Counties Women’s League, Buckingham Athletic jumped at the chance to help further raise the awareness of Disability Football in the Buckingham area. Working with secretary Colin Howkins the club will promote disability football provision by displaying the BBFA Club Directory within their clubhouse, on social media and on the clubs website. Buckingham Athletic has made a further pledge to also support coach development by offering their clubs facility for future Disability CPD workshops.

Burnham FC of the Hellenic Football League has become our 17th club signed up to the Pledge Project. Burnham FC is committed to becoming an inclusive club that supports all individuals to play football whilst ensuring that players within the current setup and players who visit Burnham FC know about inclusive opportunities within Berkshire & Buckinghamshire. The club has pledged to display the BBFA Disability Football Club Directory in the Clubhouse, on their website and on social media platforms.

Our most recent Pledge Club is the Partially Sighted Super Stars who are also our most recent Disability Football Team. The Milton Keynes based club offer opportunities for players with visual impairment to continue their own football development. The new team are the first Partially Sighted team in Buckinghamshire and we are delighted they have also pledged to support other disability teams in the region. The club will display the BBFA Disability Football Club Directory on their website and social media platforms.

We thank Buckingham Athletic, Burnham FC and the Partially Sighted Super Stars for their Pledges and look forward to working with all three organisations to raise awareness of Disability Football across the region.

One big challenge is promoting the vast array of different Disability Football opportunities across Berkshire & Buckinghamshire and getting information to those that could benefit from the provision. Sadly we hear about missed opportunities for potential new players with disabilities joining clubs because they were unaware of a local disabled football provision.

Did you know there are 54 Affiliated Disability Teams in our region?

Did you know that the BOBi League that serves Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire is one of the largest Disability Football Leagues in England?

It’s time for this to change and we are asking All Grassroots Clubs and Leagues to help us by pledging their support to promote disability football. Taking part in the Pledge Project is easy; clubs and leagues can make a pledge that suits the ambitions of the organisation. The pledge can be as big or small as the organisation decides but all pledges, regardless of size, will contribute to raising awareness of Disability Football.

There are 3 areas we are asking clubs to support; Awareness, Coach Education and Playing Opportunities.

Pledges don’t have to cost anything to the organisation and can require little time to complete but could have a big impact. In its simplest form an organisation could pledge to display the BBFA Disability Football Club Directory in their clubhouse. We have these professionally printed and ready to send out to clubs. By promoting this Club Directory a Player, Parent or Coach from the local region might see this and lead to a player with a disability getting involved with a local disability club.

BBFA will support all four organisations with their Pledge commitment and thank the committees for signing up to the Pledge Project.

If your organisation is interested in learning more about The Pledge Project please visit the Pledge Project Webpage by Clicking HERE. The webpage has lots more information about the project with further examples of potential Pledges.

We also have a one-page information sheet which is easy to print off and share with your community members attached to the bottom of this news item, please find below.

If your organisation is interested in making a Pledge or Discussing Potential Pledge Ideas please contact Disability Football Development Officer, Jonathan Coles, via the details below.