By Luke Voogt
An all-abilities soccer league will kick off in Geelong this month to the delight of local youngster Jalal Asapil.
“I want to be in the grand final,” the 12-year-old from central Geelong said.
Jalal’s mum Ameera was thrilled he could “be like all the other kids who enjoy team sports” in the five-a-side competition.
“He’s a very sociable child so this just gives him that opportunity to interact with other people,” she said.
“I’m not sure he understands what the competition means but he’ll get in there and have a go.
“All the other kids will be of similar abilities so they’ll be on par.
“It’s an amazing opportunity for them to be involved in their community, do things they like and feel like they’re getting a go.“
Jalal played mainstream soccer but having Down syndrome limited his strength and stamina, and he fell behind as he grew older.
“All the kids and coaches are really good but he couldn’t keep up,” Ameera said.
“We decided to pull him out of that so he didn’t have a bad experience or get injured.”
Ameera hoped for an all-abilities tournament for younger kids so they could “develop these skills a lot earlier.”
The league received an “avalanche” of support, genU Karingal St Laurence organiser Glen Snowden said.
“We only expected to get a couple of clubs interested, but we ended up having eight clubs say ‘yes, we want to support that’, so that was a great result.”
The eight teams will play a 10-week season kicking off in May, following a registration day at Drysdale last week.
“It’s already opening up new networks, friendships and relationships for everyone,“ Glen said.
