The Fergus Elora District Soccer club will once again host a Special Needs Soccer Festival this summer, after the success of the 2013 event that brought out 65 players from Centre Wellington, Halton Hills, Kitchener and Guelph.
This year the festival will be held on July 5 at Victoria Park in Fergus.
The day will feature a photo booth, live music, face painting, clowns and cake. The fire department and OPP will also be on site, giving guests the chance to sit in a police car or try on a fire suit.
Pat Espina, head coach and founder of the Special Needs Soccer Program, hopes the wide range of activities and entertainment offered this year will draw in more people from the community, and help to raise awareness about the need for programs for adults with developmental disabilities.
“My hope is that the community will come out, and experience something that I’m sure they have never seen before … most of us know of someone with a disability, and I think they’re going to be amazed by what they’re able to do,” said Espina.
The festival is a day to celebrate the achievements and progress players have made during the club’s soccer season, which begins at the end of May.
Espina’s unique program is intended to be fun, while exposing players to basic soccer skills, team play, social interaction and exercise.
Participants can then develop skills over time without pressure or expectations.
“They all have their own goals for how they can improve,” Espina said.
“Eventually they start feeling more comfortable, and they become part of the team. And you see it, every week, some sort of a goal reached by somebody.
“One of the goals for one player, for the first year was just to step onto the field … and at the end of the year he did. And that was huge. And it doesn’t seem like a lot, but it was a massive success.”
Though the club continues to grow each year, Espina says it remains unique to the Fergus-Elora region— something he hopes to change, especially as events like the soccer festival generate more publicity.
“We want to create a template for other groups throughout the province of Ontario, and (show them) how to create a program like the one we have,” he says.
“I’m not sure it’s going to be an easy progression for clubs in general. But I think that we’re proof that it definitely can be done, and it should be done.”
The Fergus-Elora District Soccer League has close to 1,000 players ranging in age from four-years-old to 50. They are an open and progressive club that has been providing soccer programs in the community since the early 70s.
