Working with Disabilities in Youth Grassroots Soccer

Mycock, David, Harding, Glyn, Williams, Craig and Molnár, Győző ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1732-5672 (2024) Working with Disabilities in Youth Grassroots Soccer. In: Science and Practice of Youth Soccer. Routledge, New York, pp. 73-88. ISBN 9781032665238

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Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of working inclusively in soccer coaching through three distinct but connected case studies. Case studies focus on the landscape of disability football coaching, coaching players with autism, blindness, and visual impairments. Specifically, coaches in blind soccer found that navigation, guiding techniques, and the use of echolocation aided their understanding of their players' abilities and had to enjoy priority over game-related technical knowledge. Football may be described as a dynamic and (sometimes) chaotic invasion game, where individuals, units, and teams compete to outwit each other through skill and tactical play. The direction of contemporary football coach education and sports coach development has required and challenged coaches to embrace this ‘chaos’ and develop authentic practice environments that facilitate a realistic experience. Audible sensory deprivation training can be used at various points to allow players to have to better rely on the physical feel of the ball in relation to the foot, their body, and their head.

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