The Deaf Friendly Football Club Pledge

Fry Club JFC have signed up to the Deaf Friendly Football Club Pledge and undertook some recent training in Coaching Deaf Footballers, and basic football British Sign Language (BSL).  By signing up to the Deaf Friendly Football Club Pledge our Club commits to taking small and simple steps to help break down these barriers and become genuinely inclusive for deaf children and young people.  By signing up to The Pledge our Club doesn’t have to spend money and it doesn’t need to have sign language interpreters.  Our Football Club just needs to be aware of the issues and barriers that a deaf young person faces when walking into a brand new football club and adopt a positive attitude towards deafness and deaf issues.  More information is below, and also on their website under Find A Club.  For any Club looking to sign up to the Pledge, please download the Pledge Leaflet PDF, and return to the address provided.  To contact our Deaf Friendly Co-ordinator, please e-mail.

Coaches on the Coaching Deaf Footballers course in Yeovil on 18th Feb 2012	Coaches on An Introduction To British Sign Language For Football course at the SFA HQ, Glastonbury on 25th Feb 2012

The National Deaf Children's Society, as part of the Deaf-Friendly Football Club (DFFC) project have delivered FA Coaching courses for deaf people aged 16 years+.  The NDCS also works very closely with County FA's and The FA to ensure local, regional and national coaching courses are fully accessible to deaf candidates.

Coach education – Deaf Awareness and British Sign Language

The NDCS deaf-friendly football club project aims to support football coaches and clubs to increase their deaf awareness and to become pro-active to the barriers deaf children and young people face when looking to participate in football.

Coaching Deaf Footballers Course (PowerPoint Presentation)

British Sign Language For Football Course (Sign Language Factsheet)

Both of the courses are predominantly aimed at supporting coaches with none or limited deaf awareness or experience working with deaf children and young people. The courses support you as a coach to improve your deaf awareness and to feel more confident when coaching a deaf child or young person.  The BSL course was delivered with the support of Sign it! from Poole, Dorset.  For more on BSL you can take a look at the BSL For Football page on the NDCS website, try the Signature website as well as some very useful videos on YouTube such as the British Sign Language Alphabet.

The National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) is the leading charity dedicated to creating a world without barriers for deaf children and young people.

• The key to unlocking a deaf child’s potential is the family unit. That is why families of deaf children must receive the full range of support and information to which they are entitled. This is not currently the case.

• There are over 45,000 deaf children living in the UK.

• 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents with little or no experience of deafness or knowledge of how to communicate with a deaf person.

• 40% of deaf children have additional needs.

• Four babies are born deaf every day.

• Many families struggle to communicate effectively with their deaf child.

• Many deaf children struggle to communicate with their immediate family, and develop language at a slower rate than their hearing peers.

• Given the right support there is no reason for any deaf child to develop language at a slower rate than a hearing child with similar abilities.

• Deafness is not a learning disability. There is no reason why the majority of deaf children should achieve any less than hearing children.

• Deaf children are at far higher risk of developing mental illness than their hearing peers.

• Deaf children need to be able to communicate effectively, access information and influence the world around them by any appropriate method, whether through sign language, oral communication or a combination of approaches.