ANOTHER successful Aviva Ability Counts Week culminated with City's game against Oldham Athletic on December 5.

The primary aim of the initiative, which is in its fifth year, is to showcase the variety of events, services and facilities available to disabled football fans at Norwich City Football Club - and that's certainly what happened this year, with a week full of inspirational activities and people.

The week started with local community station Future Radio broadcasting live from Carrow Road on Monday, November 30, interviewing several key Club staff including Chief Executive David McNally, Community Ambassador Jeremy Goss, Disability Liaison Officer Stephen Graham, Darran Lovell of Football in the Community and Nick Gibbs of Aviva.

All week the Aviva Gallery hosted a special exhibition by artists from Brain Tumour UK displaying their work. Viewings were available giving people the opportunity to view the Gallery where fans with different disabilities attend matches at Carrow Road.

TEAM TALK: College students get pre-match brief before
tournament begins at Carrow Park

Football in the Community hosted the Aviva Ability Counts College tournament at Carrow Park on Wednesday, December 2. The tournament involved five Norfolk colleges, and saw over 80 players aged 16 to 19 with varying disabilities competing in a Champions League style tournament. 

The purpose of the tournament was to give players with disabilities the opportunity to play competitive football against players of a similar ability, therefore hopefully increasing participation, self-confidence and the physical fitness of those involved.

On the Thursday the Norwich City Pan-disability adult team played against their local rivals Ipswich Town. The players have different levels of learning and physical disabilities and this was an additional fixture to the current Eastern Region Ability Counts league, which both teams compete in and have both won in recent years.  City players Michael Spillane and Owain Tudur Jones came along to support the lads involved and as in mainstream football this derby game was hotly contested, but unfortunately for the Canaries, Town ran out 11-6 winners on the day.

DERBY DAY: City take on Town in pan-disability game

Ahead of the Oldham Athletic match at Carrow Road a demonstration of the Soccer Sight commentary took place in the Aviva Gallery and Study Centre in the Aviva Community Stand. This is specifically designed for blind and partially-sighted supporters on matchdays at Carrow Road - giving them a more detailed description of what's happening in and around the games.

Also ahead of the match over 20 children from Norfolk and the EACH Quiddenham Children's hospice attended the launch of the Short breaks Pathfinder multi-sports disability matchday club at the YMCA, Trowse. The aim of the programme is to provide multi-sports coaching for all abilities and to provide a valuable respite opportunity for parents.

MATCHDAY CLUB: Youngsters take part in
multi-sports sessions

The children, who have a range of disabilities, took part in a two-hour multi-sports session enjoying activities such as football, basketball, cricket and tri-golf. The children then headed to Carrow Road to watch Norwich City take on Oldham Athletic. As part of the Aviva Ability Counts week the children formed a guard of honour to welcome the players out onto the pitch. The children then headed to the stands to cheer Norwich City on to a 2-0 victory.

LAUNCH: Children from EACH - Quiddenham Hospice
and other participants of the Short breaks Pathfinder

Comments about the week include:

Norwich City Chief Executive David McNally, who attended the college tournament, said: "Today was my first experience of the Aviva Ability Counts Week at the Football Club and what I saw was an excellent opportunity for young people to get involved with sport and Football in the Community here at Norwich City, and hope that all those that took part in the tournament today had a great day. "It has a vital part to play in the community, encouraging more people with disability to get involved with the Club and our Ability Counts activities and services. I hope this week's events are a continued success and would like to congratulate all those involved in organising them at Carrow Road and thank Aviva for their continued support of this annual initiative."

Nick Gibbs, Aviva Sponsorship Manager added: "Aviva is delighted and proud to sponsor the Ability Counts Week, particularly as this showcases some of the fantastic work done throughout the year."

Darran Lovell, Football Development Manager for Football in the Community, said: "This is the first time we have run a college only disability tournament, it is fantastic to see all our local colleges taking part. I hope it now becomes a regular fixture in our Ability Counts schedule. I would like to thank the Football Foundation, Football League Trust, Norfolk Short Breaks Pathfinder, Norfolk FA and above all our Ability Counts sponsor AVIVA for their continued support."

Disability Liaison Officer Stephen Graham added: "It was an honour to be involved once again with this year's Aviva Ability Counts Week. I'd like to thank the members of the Disabled Supporters Working Group who helped us put this together and making the week such a success. For me the work we have achieved so far will be on-going and we will try to deliver the experiences we have within Ability Counts Week, every week."

On the Laurence York FITC Assistant Disability Officer said: "The day couldn't have gone any better. It was extremely pleasing to see the children having a fantastic time. I would like to thank Short breaks Pathfinder and EACH for their help and support on the day. I was delighted with the reception the children received from the fans when they formed the guard of honour. The team and I look forward to many more disability match day clubs."

For more information on all the activities and services provided at Norwich City Football Club and Football in the Community please browse this year's Ability Counts brochure.

View the Aviva Ability Counts Week 2009 booklet

Alternatively Norwich City's Disability Liaison Officer Stephen Graham can be contacted via abilitycounts@ncfc-canaries.co.uk or by calling 01603 760760 extn 2255.

Football in the Community can be reached by telephone on 01603 761122, by fax on 01603 761309 or by email fitc@ncfc-canaries.co.uk