To today’s guest, coaching is all about being open to lifelong learning, showing an interest in players’ lives and developing connections to understand them and meet their needs.

For Disability Awareness Day, we speak with Chris Day, who, since recording, has been appointed as the England deaf women’s head coach. We discover how Chris got into coaching and he shares advice for coaching players with disabilities. Chris holds a wide variety of other roles that have him scouting for top talent, running a post-education program, running a grassroots team and more!

We speak in depth about disability football and Chris offers a wealth of actionable tips for coaches working in disability football and for those looking to get involved. We speak about making mainstream and grassroots football as accessible as possible, whilst providing options for those who would be better supported in other formats. We get insights into the different disability formats that are available and info about upcoming tournaments that we can expect to see.

Covered in this episode -

• The best way for players and coaches to get involved with disability football
• Top tips for coaches working or looking to work in disability football 
• Courses for coaches specifically for disability football 
• The less obvious strengths that can show that a player has the potential to go onto the talent pathway 
• Advice to coaches to ensure sessions are more inclusive to players with disabilities 
• How do we ensure more people with disabilities are getting involved in football? 
• What does the term ‘para’ mean in Para football?

Transcript:  Episode twenty-one: Chris Day – making football inclusive