It’s great to see both a member and a member of staff recently receive sports training certificates.
First of all, congratulations to Bexley Mencap’s Scott Matthews, who has just passed his Inclusive Activity Leaders coaching certificate (IAL) with charity, Disability Sports Coach.
Sponsored by Nike, the programme aims to make sports and physical fitness activities fully accessible to all and participants learnt how to adapt and lead a range of sports to enable people with different disabilities to take part and enjoy having fun through playing sport. Sports included GoalBall, for blind or partially sighted players, Sitting Volleyball and Boccia, where all the players are seated.
The course took place over 6 months and involved weekend modules, practical assignments, and planning and delivering an assessed group coaching session.
Scott works as Bexley Mencap’s Support Services Manager and said:
‘The course challenged me and made me realise that with the right mindset and by making use of different equipment- most sports can be easily adapted and enjoyed by people whatever their ability or disability.’
‘I look forward to using these skills when I introduce new members and cover our Healthy Lifestyle groups,’ he added.
Scott joins Nick Marsden who is also an IAL coach as well as a qualified UK Athletics coach, and leads Bexley Mencap’s Healthy Lifestyles activities such as Tennis, Multi sports, Walking Football and Zoom Keep fit.
Not to be outdone, Bexley Mencap member Jeenan, has just completed the FA’s Introduction to Coaching Football course as well as two other courses in First Aid in Football and Safeguarding Children.
The courses were completed online at Bexley Mencap’s office over a period of weeks. Jeenan was mentored by support worker, Ben O’Neill, who says that Jeenan was able to work through the various assignments at his own pace and needed little help in answering most of questions due to his all round knowledge and enthusiasm for football.
‘It’s great to play every week with my Mencap teammates,’ says Jeenan. ‘I wanted to do the course to learn about what a coach does and what sort of training sessions help improve player’s skills and fitness levels.’
Jeenan is an active member of Bexley Mencap’s weekly Walking Football team with impressive ball control skills and turns up to practice sessions in the Man City strip of his favourite side. We are looking forward to Jeenan sharing some of his new coaching skills and training tips with his fellow players on a Wednesday afternoon.
If you would like to join future Bexley Mencap events, including a games night, sponsored walks, or run your own event in aid of us please get in touch. You can also join our mailing list to receive updates from our monthly e-newsletter at the bottom of the page.
