Started in 2009, with funding from The FA, the Essex Soccability League became the first disability league in Essex. Last season eight youth teams and 14 adult teams took part in this five-a-side competition which meets once a month for six months.
Over 150 people with a disability regularly take part in the Soccability League in the Under 13s, 16s and Open-Age sections. If you, your friends or your club are interested in joining in, please contact John Manning on (01245) 393095 or E-Mail john.manning@essexfa.com.
Here's the latest update from our most recent round of matches:
Rochford Disability Football Academy (RDFA) were the main success story during the morning session of the most recent meeting of the Essex County FA’s Soccability League in Colchester, securing three of the top four places in the table at the end of the youth section’s fixtures at Shrub End Community & Sports Centre.
A positive result helped to further strengthen RDFA Tigers’ overall lead over their counterparts - the Pumas - with both having daylight in front of third-placed Basildon Soccability Academy. The event also saw the introduction of a new fair play scoring system, and RDFA Lions achieved the most points from a well-mannered competition. There was also a debut for newly-qualified referee Jamie Harris from the Nacro Braintree Sports Project.
In the afternoon, the standard of football and the sportsmanship exhibited by the players remained high as the adults took over from their younger counterparts. In the Premiership division, both Clacton Healthy4Life and Tendring Mental Health had identical records after the round robin of fixtures - even their game against each other finished in a 1-1 draw. But, by scoring more goals throughout the afternoon, Clacton took the spoils.
As with the youths, the fair play table was closely fought, Basildon A emerging as the eventual winners on the day. Overall, the results showed a table with the top three separated by just one point. Clacton lead from Tendring and Colchester. Taking encouragement from their youths, RDFA Eagles headed-up the Championship table, with Colchester B ensuring Rochford didn’t take the top two spots by coming in ahead of their Hawks.
The fair play award was shared by RDFA Hawks and last season’s overall winners, Witham Healthy4Life, so it was a brilliant day all round for the Academy club. Amongst the Championship’s overall results, RDFA Eagles lead the Hawks by one point at the top, with Colchester and St Luke’s leading the charge to close in behind them.
The most competitive section of the day by far came in the Adult First Division where, at the end of the day’s games, just one point separated the top three. Chelmsford Healthy4Life head the pack, closely followed by Basildon and Clacton B. The joint fair play winners were the two Basildon teams, both boasting an impressive 100% record.
The results contribute to an overall table being jointly led by Chelmsford and Maldon Saints, with Basildon B and Clacton B just two points behind. The Essex County FA’s John Manning was delighted to include a fun section as part of the afternoon’s proceedings, with the Ladies’ Healthy4Life team scoring twelve goals in four games to head the table.
Manning said: “It was another excellent meeting. This event also represented the halfway point in the league’s season and I hope all those involved will take some form of encouragement from the results and tables they’ve achieved so far and take this forward in order to improve on their performance for the remaining three match days.”
The Soccability League was launched in 2009 after the foundations were set the previous year through a number of festivals held across the County and over 100 participants attended the early stages. The reputation of the competition has since grown hugely, leading to one of the players, Adam Lione, being recognised on an international stage with England.
One club with aspirations of joining the League is Trinity Youth FC. Led by Chris Reader (School Liaison Office), Trinity have partnered with local School Sports Coordinator Adam Johnson to deliver three taster sessions and kick-start Under 16s and Adult Disability sections. The next two sessions are on 18th February and 3rd March from 11:00am-12:00pm at Garons Park, SS2 4FA and details can be obtained from Chris on (07753) 573082.
All the fixtures, results and tables from the Essex Soccability League can be found in 'Related Documents', as well as regular match reports from Harry, who plays for Clacton Healthy4Life. This month he’s joined by Melissa - also from the Healthy4Life project - who has also submitted her own summary. Jamie Harris’ recollections of his refereeing debut have been published at www.nacrocsp.btck.co.uk/RefereeCorner.
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