Tyler Roberts on hand to inspire disabled youngsters

Tyler Roberts on hand to inspire disabled youngsters

Forward shows support for Level Playing Field Weeks of Action.

Tyler Roberts paid a special visit to a Leeds United Foundation disability sport session at Temple Moor High School recently to help support youngsters aiming to develop their football skills.

The trip took place during the Level Playing Field’s Weeks of Action to help showcase the work being done within the club to help make sport more inclusive and accessible for those suffering with disabilities.

The Leeds United star was on hand to meet with a group of young students with varying disabilities during an after school football session being delivered by coaches from the club’s official charity. The forward spent time chatting with them, offering them advice and encouragement and giving tips to each individual on how they could improve.

During the appearance, the Wales international spoke to LUTV and said: “Days like this are really important, obviously everyone sees us on a matchday out on the field but doing stuff like this and giving back to the fans and the community is a great feeling and it’s really important that we get involved and try and make a difference.”

Becky Starr, Partnership Lead for the East SILC, added: “Coaches from Leeds United come in to train with the pupils twice a week, working with all 36 of our special needs students and they are brilliant at what they do.

“Anyone coming in with a Leeds United badge on immediately motivates the students and after the sessions we can see an increase in their social skills, teamwork, problem solving and just generally their communication skills naturally improve which is crucial for our students.

“It’s fantastic to get a player here; most of our children don’t get to go to football games so to have a celebrity to them come into the school is a huge deal. Everyone was excited all through the day and they couldn’t wait to tell him how much they loved his two goals at the weekend.”

The work the Foundation do as part of the Every Player Counts projects, which is supported by the EFL and Wembley Trust, is centred around creating more opportunities for people with additional needs to play football, no matter their level of disability. The coaches help to give so many people the chance to gain access to play football for the very first time as well as the opportunity to continue to grow and develop in the world of sport.

The Level Playing Field’s Weeks of Action will run until Sunday 15th March and will help to promote a positive and inclusive experience for all disabled sports fans, whether it is being able to watch live sport or take part in it. Sport has a very unique capacity to bring people together, meaning accessible and inclusive programmes are essential to ensure everyone is able to participate fully within the local community and further.

For more information on the disability programmes being delivered at the Leeds United Foundation, please contact Anthony.Hall@leedsunited.com.

To watch the video, please click here.

 #WeeksofAction


Yosuke Ideguchi

Yosuke Ideguchi

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