\u201cIf I had a neurotypical son, I would vicariously probably live through him playing soccer and hopefully he loved it in the same way that I did. I think that\u2019s really powerful for Oscar to enjoy and love the aspects of the game that he enjoys but that social environment allows him to be able to do that with the challenges that he has.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oscar, now 18, has been part of the program since he was 10 and is now besotted with football. He was entranced by the World Cup in 2023, with Mary Fowler his favourite player, and is part of the Balmain Tigers All Abilities Program.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When he gets to play in programs at Sky Park, just metres from his heroes, it sums up the inclusivity of the work the Foundation is doing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Ross, centre, speaking at a Sydney FC Foundation event earlier this year about the program\u2019s impact on his family. <\/p>\n
\u201cA couple of the Sydney FC guys have come to talk at things and listen to some of the stories and some of them are quite blown away by the fact that they\u2019ve got touch points to people in that non neurotypical environment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He continued: \u201cIt makes it real that there\u2019s a process of getting involved in something very community based. It\u2019s good for our non neurotypical children to be involved in that because it can be quite an insular life if you don\u2019t involve them in those more community based activities where inclusion is part of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI talked to my dad, and obviously my dad was inducted to the Hall of Fame for his involvement with the FA and from an academic and historical viewpoint.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe likes the fact that he can see that the trade of the Hay family is still being involved in soccer in some way, shape or form \u2013 that wouldn\u2019t be the case if there wasn\u2019t places like the Sydney FC Foundation, which is very, very enjoyable and rewarding for everybody in the Hay family, Oscar primarily, but everybody else gets to see and benefit and enjoy Oscar\u2019s enjoyment in that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
If ever anyone needed a reminder of the social importance of sport and the potential role A-League clubs can play in our communities, Sydney FC Foundation Chair Jenny Abood explains her mission with incredible passion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c(It stemmed from Sydney FC Owner and Director and Sydney FC Foundation Director) Alina Barlow\u2019s vision to use the power of football to change lives,\u201d she explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to make sure that people who would otherwise miss out can access all those benefits of social health and confidence building that they wouldn\u2019t usually receive.<\/p>\n
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\u201cSydney FC obviously has success on the field. And that gives us a platform, right? We want people to realise that it\u2019s more than just about winning trophies; the Sydney FC Foundation is about what happens off the field.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur success isn\u2019t measured truly by trophies. Our success is measured in each child that gains more confidence, the barriers that are broken down and opportunities created for people who otherwise would just miss out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what it always comes down to. They would not get this if it wasn\u2019t for having a foundation. We feel that football just has so much to offer and through our programs we\u2019re engaging, we\u2019re enriching and we\u2019re empowering people, young women, children with disabilities, kids who who can\u2019t walk, who have muscular dystrophy and in power chairs, who\u2019ve got limited use of their upper bodies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe that a successful football club shouldn\u2019t only be just measured by what happens in the 90 minutes on the weekend. It should also be measured by the positive impact it has on the community that it supports.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Football has a unique role to play, Abood adds.<\/p>\n
\u201cGovernments and charities, they\u2019ve got important roles to play. But football clubs bring something different: connection, inspiration and engagement.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I\u2019ve got players with me, women or the men, young people are not going to listen to a politician or a policy document, or a teacher sometimes, but they\u2019ll listen to a Sydney FC player. It\u2019s crazy. And that\u2019s just really a powerful opportunity, we believe, to create positive change.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sydney FC players head out to events, will see what it\u2019s like in a power chair, run clinics; there are three A-League Women players who are trained to go to schools where there is social disadvantage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The Foundation started with a focus on Power Chair, when alongside Alex Reilly, Jenny kitted out a team playing under Sydney FC\u2019s name with proper kits in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She continued: \u201cWe started lobbying for them to get help with NDIS to get them power chairs and things like that. So it started there. Then we saw schools for kids with disabilities started to lose their funding from the government for sports programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo these kids were sitting in the classroom because they didn\u2019t have any sport to play. So we decided that we would create a program where we would go out to schools with these children with special needs and we would run programs for them to participate in.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then it just started growing from there to the extent that we then wanted to do that in holiday clinics because we used to run holiday clinics for children with no disabilities. So we thought, \u2018Why shouldn\u2019t we start running these holiday clinics for children with all abilities?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Last year, that work crescendoed with 4,459 participants across all their programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The highlights are plentiful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
83% of girls in the Sky\u2019s Her Limit program said they\u2019ve been inspired by their participation, with 72% saying it encouraged them to remain active in sport.<\/p>\n
\u201c88% of our Empower Me participants reported improving their confidence,\u201d she beamed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t tell you the impact that it has on families.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A beautiful story to end with is of Jacob.<\/p>\n
\u201cJacob has autism and wasn\u2019t even a football fan,\u201d Jenny explains.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019d never played football, never was interested in football. It really brought such an amazing impact on his life.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026he really wasn\u2019t much of a talker, but football really engaged him. And when he sees me, he will talk to me about football now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s become a massive Sydney FC fan, which is great, \u2013 it doesn\u2019t matter who they follow, but he\u2019s become a great Sydney FC fan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI said to him: what made you do that? And he said to me, Jake Cohen, who works for our foundation, made me love football. So it\u2019s not just the players, it\u2019s the person coming out delivering the program as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cI took him up to the Sky Blue Lounge back then and brought his family along with him and they had the most wonderful day and we took them down to the sideline and he met Joe Lolley, and I swear to you, it was like as though he\u2019d met the King<\/p>\n
\u201cHe couldn\u2019t say enough about Sydney. And this is a kid who\u2019d hardly spoken. Here he was just speaking with all this confidence to Joe Lolley on the sideline.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I really, really want to bring home is that we\u2019re reaching people that the governments, schools and other charities just can\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, families trust their club. The supporters feel connected to it, players are role models, and with that reach comes a responsibility to give back in a meaningful way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I don\u2019t think that\u2019s just about the club doing that, but I think that supporters and fans of football should do so because they all know what the power of football really is and how it can unite and how it can empower, engage and enrich.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hay, who also singled out the work of Jake Cohen, who does an annual 100km walk from Bondi to Barrenjoey to fund raise, added: \u201cNo matter what your challenge is, it\u2019s good to be part of a clan or a community and that\u2019s what Sydney FC Foundation is trying to do through all of the different realms it\u2019s grown into.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He continued: \u201cIt\u2019s a social conscience thing\u2026somewhere within your community there is somebody who would benefit from a program like Sydney FC Foundation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s always a case of within one or two degrees that you\u2019ve got somebody who\u2019s got some non neurotypical challenges and you can help by supporting or involving yourself in the foundation, however that is. Through just talking about it, keeping the word out there or actually putting your hand in your pocket to help.\u201d<\/p>\n