Blue Blazers blaze a trail
Cheshire Academy home page www.disabilitysport.com

Last updated 1st August 2005
Blue Blazers Football team.
(Back Row L to R) Neil Phillips (coach) Joseph Harrison, Ben Welch, Ian Poole, Rob Jepsom (coach)
Front Row (l to R) Kieran Sandlands, Bradi minshull, Dominic Wyartt, Adam Bloor. Missing :Callan Hatton
The 8 strong football team from South and East Cheshire Special Olympics were over the moon when they qualified to represent the North West of England at the National Special Olympic games. The team which was formed in 2002 would at last be given the opportunity to pit their skills against the top disability clubs in the UK and they were certainly up to the challenge.

The team were all members of the 'Blue Blazers' football Club who train in Crewe, Cheshire, When the 'Blue Blazers' club was first formed the manager and organisers had placed great emphasis on youth development . Everyone in this particular team was under 16 years, however in many ways the club is years ahead of its time.

Just prior to the games Special Olympics nationally had to confess that there were no other youth teams which we could play at these games, all the other teams were adults. Frantic calls and negotiations behind the scenes however saved the day and the team were given the opportunity to play a whole host of local teams including Milngarvie, Garscadden, Broomhill and Celtic FC.

As coach Neil Phillips said "I was initially devastated to be told that there were no other suitable junior teams for us to compete against and I really felt for the players. The team had been practising come hail or high water for a whole year just to pit themselves against other junior teams, and to be told at the 11th hour that there were no other teams in our age group was very upsetting".

England goalkeeper David James with former Southampton boss David McMenemy with players from the 'Blue Blazers' (in yellow) and Broomhill Football Clubs
The football organisers in Glasgow however pulled together and made a herculean effort to ensure our team members would not be disappointed. Word went out "We need junior teams!"
And they were not to be disappointed. A number of local junior teams stepped forward and a whole series of games were set up."We ended up getting loads of games, and had a fantastic time" said young 'Blue Blazers' goalkeeper Bradi Minshull.

And who should come along to cheer his adopted team but no other than David James the England and Man City goalkeeper . David James was keen to promote disability football as he is an ambassador for Special Olympics. He was also keen to see how his favourite team was progressing.

"People with special needs are often marginalised but I believe sport should be for everyone. The standard has been superb and I have adopted the North West team so I will be following the its progress"

Adam Bloor winning the tackle for the 'Blue Blazers'.
Members of the Blue Blazers had met David James on previous occasions and they were ecstatic that he came to support them at the games. Former Southampton and Sunderland boss David McMenemy arrived with him to support the teams.

The 'Blue Blaze' team entered the skills competitions which was especially designed to test a whole range of footballing skills from dribbling, shooting and accuracy of

play, and they collected 2 golds, 2 silvers, 2 bronzes and 2X4th places. Bradi Minshull and Adam Bloor both won golds, with Ben Welch and Callan Hatton winning silver. In the bronze medal position Dominic Wyartt and Kieran Sandlands collected their medals and the 4th place ribbons fell to Ian Poole and Joseph Harrison.
Head coach Neil Phillip( far left) with the Blue Blazers and Milngarvie FC.

Assistant Coach Robbie Jepsom was pleased how things turned out : "The players were initially disappointed about not having other special Olympic Junior teams to play however Special Olympic organisers really made an effort to ensure that the team did have matches to play and at the end of the week every player said that they had the best week of their lives, so you cannot say more than that. "

Coach / manager Neil Phillips reflected on the difficulties of having no Junior teams to play:

"Disability organisations should make it a priority to attract and develop youth. It is pointless for my own club and my own Special Olympic group to develop and prioritise youth football and to initiate a youth policy if nothing is being done elsewhere. These children with disabilities are the future of the sport and surely the younger you can attract them to the sport then the better the opportunities for these children to develop as players in the future.

" He went on and paid tribute to the efforts of the football organisers in Glasgow.

"I would like to thank the organisers for ensuring that our players did in the end have matches .Their efforts could not be faulted and they should be commended, however I hope that over the next 4 years strenuous efforts are made within special Olympics nationally to develop and encourage more junior teams to play and develop this wonderful sport."

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