Karen Cronin was on a camping trip watching an AFL match with her son, Jacob Cozens, when she had an idea that would transform his life.<\/p>\n
She saw a group of young men socialising, and wished her son was having the same experience.<\/p>\n
“My heart broke a little bit for him,” she said.<\/p>\n
“He shouldn’t have been sitting there with us \u2026 we believe he needed to be social with other people.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
John and Karen Cronin are thrilled Jacob Cozens (centre) has found friends with similar interests. (ABC News: Alice Walker)<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old Albury man lives with autism, schizophrenia, and intellectual disability \u2014 and supports almost every AFL team.<\/p>\n
“Fifteen AFL men’s teams,” Mr Cozens confirmed.<\/p>\n
He is known to wear merchandise from multiple clubs at once, and dreams of visiting every AFL football ground.<\/p>\n
Ms Cronin realised that passion could be a window to a new social network: an AFL fan club.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jacob Cozens (right) and his stepfather John Cronin are keen football fans. (Supplied: Karen Cronin)<\/p>\n
“Growing up with Jacob, we often didn’t get the invitations to the parties,” she said.<\/p>\n
“He didn’t have friendships outside of his disability support network \u2014 I needed to do something.”An inclusive party<\/p>\n
Ms Cronin approached her son’s disability support service employer for permission to use an existing venue designed for people with disabilities, and started getting the word out about a new club.<\/p>\n
The idea was to create a relaxed, supervised space where people with disabilities could socialise without explicitly working towards goals in their NDIS plans.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
There is no obligation to RSVP, and numbers vary for each AFL Fan Club gathering. (ABC News: Alice Walker)<\/p>\n
“We started off with three people, we didn’t know how it was going to go,” Ms Cronin said.<\/p>\n
“Within five minutes there was high-fiving, the guys were getting together, they watched football, they were smiling.”<\/p>\n
From that first gathering seven years ago, the AFL Fan Club has grown to attract as many as 50 people.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Karen Cronin plans to register the AFL Fan Club as a charity. (ABC News: Alice Walker)<\/p>\n
Learning skills<\/p>\n
According to the 2021 Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, people with disability are twice as likely to experience social isolation.<\/p>\n