00:00Kingshill FC hosted its biggest ever SC&D football tournament, aiming to tackle the lack of sporting
00:06opportunities for children with additional needs across the county.
00:11The pitches were packed with students from across Kent and from the moment the first
00:15whistle blew, it wasn't just the players who had to stay on their toes.
00:20This is the fourth school disability tournament Kingshill has hosted and over 200 students
00:25are here competing for that final place.
00:27The tournament was made possible by a dedicated team of volunteers and coaches who give up
00:33their time to support events across the club.
00:37We've gone from zero to around 80 players within Kingshill Football Club so to be able
00:42to get the schools from sort of zero to 200 players within a couple of years it means
00:48quite a lot and we've got aspirations to make that bigger.
00:52We've got plans in for a second 3G at Kingshill and if we can get that it would mean that
00:57we
00:57can increase this to potentially 400 players because we've got schools on the waiting list
01:02for today that couldn't come because we're at capacity.
01:05They are opportunities that perhaps don't exist as much as they should for the SC&D community.
01:13Also they allow children to network, meet other children, they create a sense of belonging for
01:20those young people to be able to come out and represent their school and to be able to be
01:25physically active.
01:27You know there's so many benefits to that for these young people.
01:30But what did the students make of the tournament?
01:33Oh it was great fun, great opportunity for people throughout different years especially
01:40like my school because we have two different age groups that we did two different teams for.
01:46I loved it here, I'm really thankful for a lot of my team and Halbert, we coped with it during
01:51tough battles.
01:53And tough battles being the rain, how did you cope with that?
01:56Very very hard obviously but I had to use my coat and my jumper to keep me warm but I
02:01think my team kept me going.
02:02What was the best part would you say?
02:05When I scored.
02:06And what did it feel like when you scored, were you proud of yourself?
02:09Yeah, if I play well I can get like a really good team and maybe get like pro.
02:17While there is still a long way to go to ensure children with additional needs have equal access to sport,
02:23the team at Kingshill FC are determined to keep pushing for change, long after the final whistle blows.
02:30Maisie Walker for KMTV in Kingshill.
