Sudbury club launches all-abilities soccer for inclusive youth play

Sudbury’s Sudburnia Soccer Club launches an all-abilities youth team, ensuring inclusive play for kids with diverse needs. Angela Gemmill has more.

Everyone is a winner on the new All Abilities Soccer team – whether they score a goal or not.

This is just the second week for the new youth team with Sudburnia Soccer Club.

“We keep talking about everybody in Sudbury being able to play soccer and this is the year that we’re actually making that happen. So, everybody has a place to play here,” said club secretary Angela Ashton.

During the school year Ashton is a Special Needs teacher with Rainbow District School Board. She’s wanted to provide a summer soccer option for youth who may have limitations or be new to soccer.

There are some modifications, but Ashton said essentially the game stays the same.

“There’s some adaptation but truthfully the kids dictate how this goes… it’s busy but it’s worth it,” Ashton added.

Right now, the team consists of 13 kids of various ages who play weekly at the James Jerome Sports Complex. Most of the coaches are special needs teachers or have experience with special needs youth.

The team has been a big hit with the children and their parents.

“In an environment like this she’s just part of the group,” said Margaret, whose 10-year-old daughter Georgia is on the team. Georgia has limited vision and wears hearing aids.

“Looking at her you wouldn’t know that she has these limitations, but she’s part of the group,” her mother said.

Margaret believes the coaches are really making a difference for the children.

“Our children may not necessarily have the best attention spans – they might drift off a little bit and that’s fine. [The coaches] let them do their thing. They bring them back in,” she said.

“I really appreciate the fact that they’ve done a lot of one-on-one so that there’s additional individuals on the field with our kids.”

According to Ashton, Sudburnia Soccer is the first in the northern Ontario to offer All-Ability soccer.

Ashton told CTV News that she hopes to grow the program to include indoor soccer in the winter and more teams next summer.