'I was so happy to play football with other people like me:’ CITC Dwarf Team go competitive | OneFootball

For the first time City in the Community’s Dwarf team played in a competitive pan disability league, at Salford Sports Village. Their new, under-12 Dwarf team played in the Greater Manchester Ability Counts League.

The mixed gender team won their first competitive game with two wins and a draw.

One participant, Jaiden, who took part in the tournament said: “It was amazing to be part of the CITC DSA team. It was even better that we made history by being the first team to play in the DSA league.”

Another participant, Teddy, who took part in the tournament said: “I was so happy to play football with other people like me.”

The 'One City' Dwarf Sports programme has been running for just under five years, having launched back in 2019 as part of CITC’s One City Disability sessions.

CITC Disability Officer, Sean Dwyer, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity, for these young people to be involved in such an inclusive environment.

“This special moment is a perfect example of what can be achieved when given the opportunities.”

Sitting under the Healthy People pillar of the charity, One City Disability provides opportunity for participants to take part in free football and sporting provision relevant to their specific disability.

Sessions are held in Primary and High Schools as well as in community venues outside of school hours ensuring that participants across Greater Manchester have access to disability specific provision and education.

Disabled participants do not always feel comfortable or able to access universal provision, so it is important to provide disability specific sports to provide participants with a development and participation pathway, regardless of their disability or impairment.

During their last reporting year CITC delivered more than 58 hours of their One City Disability programme.

For more information on One City Disability sessions please contact, paul.kelly@cityfootball.com.

If you would like to support CITC and its work, you can do so through the CITC Prize Draw which offers fans around the world* the opportunity to get their hands on signed player shirts, match tickets, cash prizes and much more each month for just £5 a ticket. To enter the draw or find out more information, visit: www.mancity.com/citcprizedraw

City in the Community empowers healthier lives with city youth through football. To find out more, visit www.mancity.com/citc or follow @citcmancity.

*Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Cambodia, Qatar, Lebanon, and North Korea are the only excluded countries from the prize draw.