Powerchair football continues to grow in Scotland but still needs support

At its most romantic a game of football is a collection of individuals from various backgrounds coming together as a team. For supporters it can bring communities together, ignoring physical and cultural differences and uniting them via a common passion. Unfortunately for individuals with mobility impairments, getting involved in football is harder than for any other social group, simply due to the fact that it’s physically more difficult to play and or access seating in the stadium. Plenty of work has been done to make the beautiful game more accessible though, through improving stadium access and creating unique variations of the world’s most popular sport, one example being powerchair football.

With Para-sports being in the public eye more than ever following the success of the Paralympics in London and the Commonwealth games in Glasgow, variations of the game such as powerchair football and blind football are beginning to see an increase in both participants and spectators across the world. The first powerchair world cup was held in Japan in 2007 with a second tournament being held four years later in Paris. The USA emerged victorious on both occasions with the latest tournament containing 10 competing countries. Scotland is making progress to build a national side, but first it must expand its national league.

We spoke to Stuart Aitchison, founder of Clyde PFC, the first powerchair football club in Scotland, about how the sport humble beginnings and the current and potential growth of the game in Scotland.

Humble beginnings

Powerchair football is already fairly successful south of the border with two national leagues already in place before Scotland introduced their first in 2010. Stuart Aitchison, a sports coach who works with schools to assist children with special education needs was inspired to create a powerchair football teams after attending a workshop promoting the sport by the games governing body in England. Believing some of the children he worked with would be interested Stuart and his coaching partner Kathleen Mackay set up a taster session in Glasgow with only four people turning up to take part. Since then the growth in participants has astounded Stuart, having risen to thirty in just four years.

Starting a Powerchair football club isn’t easy business though, as Stuart informed me:

“The main difficulty was that nobody had any idea of how to coach or organise powerchair football and there were limited resources available to reference so we were making it up as we went along. The other issue was the cost of equipment. So far we have risen over £12,000 just to fund playing attachments to ensure cost isn't a barrier stopping people participating. We have been lucky that we have had great support from Glasgow City Council, North Lanarkshire Council, the Scottish FA, Awards for All, the Teddy Bear Foundation and Scottish Disability Sport in assisting us in sourcing funds.”

Stuart and everyone associated with the sport is grateful for all the support given to them by these organisations. unfortunately without more support it is difficult to see the game continue to grow as without the funding it is difficult for players and coaches to get access to the latest wheelchair technology and fund enough clubs to continue running a national league

Players’ commitment

The level of commitment shown by the players is incredible considering how difficult many of their ailments makes just attending training. We’ve already discussed Scott Robb’s story on bespoken, but Stuart also told us how one player who trains in Cumbernauld has to take “3 taxis and two trains to get to training when he isn't able to get a lift”. This level of dedication shows just how important the game is to the players and how continuing to to grow the game provides a lot to those who relay on wheelchairs to get around and gives them the opportunity to enjoy the game in a similar fashion to Sunday league players

Creating new teams

So far there are only two recognised teams in the league, though Stuart is hopeful the numbers will increase. there are teams in “Ayrshire, Aberdeen, Falkirk and Perth who are in the process of starting up” following the successful introduction of Tayside Dynamo last season. There have also been discussions about starting a team in Edinburgh.

Stuart and the team at Clyde are more than willing to offer their knowledge and experience to those who wish to start any new clubs. The biggest problem facing groups wishing to create a team is that coaches and organisers are volunteers, not paid workers, making it difficult for people to find time to commit fully to the project. Stuart tells me that Clyde and everyone involved in powerchair football are attempting to create job roles that focus on creating new teams across the country but that this is a long way from happening in the current climate. Growing the game is important though in order to make it easier for people who already have difficulty getting around to find a local club to save horror travel stories such as the one described earlier.

2014/2015 season so far

Despite only having two established clubs (Clyde splits into five separate clubs, Saltires, Alba, Caledonia, Lions and Claymores) one thing Powerchair football can perhaps claim to hold over the traditional game is the competitiveness of the league, while traditional football leagues in countries such as England, Germany and Italy suffer from a lack of competitiveness where one team runs away with the title.

Take this season, the latest team Tayside Dynamo currently sit top of the table undefeated after two rounds of games. Considering in the previous season Tayside finished second bottom, the fact that they can sit top currently highlights Stuarts claim that the league is “balanced and competitive”, with all the teams capable of taking “points off of each other”.

What makes Powerchair football special?

As mentioned before part of the sports unique charm is the dedication of the players to attend both training and match days for little reward other than victory or simply taking part in the sport they love, something “rarely seen in mainstream football” as Stuart said. A point which is very true considering that most footballers even if they had to travel far would not face the sort of journey preparation wheelchair users face. Their determination to participate is extraordinary.

Stuart believes that what makes powerchair football so special is how similar the sport is to regular football “I think people would be surprised that Powerchair football is so similar to mainstream football in the rules of the game, how competitive the games are and how vocal the parents and supporters can be”

Scottish national team

Knowing that his work allows people to participate in a sport they would otherwise be unable to is the most rewarding aspects of Stuart’s role at Clyde PFC. As mentioned previously he hopes that his work and further support by others and organisations devoting more resources to the sport will provide opportunities to others who may be restricted by geography. For success however, support needs to come from various organisations, perhaps even professional football clubs could help just as is the case at West Bromwich Albion. The end result is that eventually a national team can be created where people strive to represent their country which is seen as the pinnacle of any given sport.

Powerchair football continues to grow in Scotland but still needs support

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