Chelsea FC Foundation invites footballers with CP to training sessions
The Chelsea FC Foundation are inviting all footballers with Cerebral Palsy or acquired brain injuries to attend one of their upcoming training sessions with a view to continuing their development within football.
The training sessions, starting on Sunday 14 September and held at Chelsea FC’s training ground in Cobham, are open to adults and children over the age of 12 with specialist coaches on hand to provide the coaching and also advice on furthering each individual’s development within football.
Sessions will run at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground on a regular basis with regional tournaments held at Bisham Abbey and a national Cerebral Palsy Cup competition staged at St George’s Park once a year.
The Chelsea Foundation runs the FA Cerebral Palsy Centre of Excellence for the South-East region, with the aim to identify players with cerebral palsy (CP) or acquired brain injury (ABI) who are deemed to possess a higher level of ability and place them in the over or under-16 squad depending on age.
From the trials coaches will select players for the FA Centre of Excellence, while those not quite ready for this will be encouraged to attend the brand new Player Development Centre which will run alongside the Centre of Excellence to help those players make the next step into the Centre.
Rob Seale, disability inclusion officer for the Chelsea Foundation, said:
The Cerebral Palsy PDC is aimed at players who have aspirations of reaching the COE, but perhaps need help to build up their confidence, knowledge and experience in the game. By using highly trained and qualified staff, our main objective is to develop the players to the highest standard possible and give them the opportunity to be selected for national development squads.
