A NUMBER of Great Britain paralympians are to make a special appearance in Malvern next week to mark the first anniversary of a cerebral palsy football club.
It will be a day of celebration on Sunday, February 7 at the town’s MSJ Sports Hall on Barnard’s Green Road when Newtown Sports Cerebral Palsy Football Club toast its first big milestone.
Made up of youngsters who suffer from the condition, the side is affiliated to Newtown Sports Junior Football Club which has been running in Malvern for around 30 years.
The team meet for a kick-about session on a weekly basis to encourage those with cerebral palsy to get active by playing the country’s national sport.
On the big day, GB Paralympic athletes from football and swimming will be offering master classes for the children including goalkeeper Giles Moore, defender Harry Barker and captain Jack Rutter along with male swimmer Sascha Kindred who has won 12 medals in five Summer Paralympic Games.
Manager Scott Tranmer, who set up the team twelve months ago, said he was proud as punch on how far the club have come.
“It has been so rewarding for me to be a part of this club over the past year,” he said.
“My son has cerebral palsy and he found it very difficult to get involved with football so one day I said why not make a cerebral palsy football team.
“One year later, here we are, and I am so proud of all the children.”
On February 7 the club will be hosting fun training games and matches with Newtown Sports’ under-10s squad to raise money for both teams.
Mr Tranmer said Paralympic star Sascha had played a vital part in helping the club since it formed.
“He has supported my son so well and has been a huge part of the club since we set it up. He’s attended some of our training sessions and has shown his medals from the London Games.
“He and the other paralympians will present medals to the children as they thoroughly deserve them.”
The club are yet to play any competitive matches, however the club has just announced its first friendly match against another cerebral palsy team – Chadderton Park from Oldham will be held on Sunday, February 21,
Mr Tranmer added the club hope to host more matches in the near future.
“The problem is a lot of the cerebral palsy teams are adults so we are quite limited with who we can play,” he said.
“Hopefully we will be able to play some matches with junior CP teams in and around Birmingham over the next year.”
