Clarbeston Road AFC have been awarded the insport Club of the Month accolade due to the club’s proactive approach and achieving insport Ribbon.
Clarbeston Road AFC was originally formed in 1960 and has since become a registered charity which has continue to develop as a club. Clarbeston Road is now a Football Association of Wales Silver accredited club and has twice been awarded Wales Club of the Year (in 2003 and 2008) by the FAW Trust. The club also supports the Cleddau Warriors Disability Football Team and were the first Pembrokeshire League club to be awarded the insport Club Ribbon for commitment to inclusion and providing sporting opportunities for disabled people in Wales.
Clarbeston Road AFC has been supporting the Cleddau Warriors Disability Football Club for over 10 years and has worked closely with Angela Miles, Pembrokeshire’s Disability Sport Development Officer for much of that time. Angela introduced the club to the insport programme and its Club accreditation scheme, which supports clubs in ensuring they are adopting good practice in their approach to inclusion and community participation. The club chose to embark on the insport journey so that its framework provided suitable provision for all members of the community.
insport’s impact on the club’s development is shown through its strengthened governance, the training that is provided to volunteers and through the communication to players and families. For example, a comprehensive ‘Welcome Pack’ has been developed for all players and parents, which has been successful in improving awareness of the club and its activities.
Steve Brown, Chairman of Clarbeston Road AFC said “the club and volunteers have benefited hugely from supporting disability football. It has been very rewarding to see young people who usually face difficulty in participating in mainstream sport develop their potential and grow in confidence after being given the opportunity. We encourage clubs to speak to their local Disability Sport Development Officer to get advice on how they too can become involved and encourage participation”.
The club who are currently working towards the Bronze standard are now planning to re-develop their site by building new changing room facilities, a club/community room, as well as a brand new all weather pitch. Steve said “we have planned our facilities with disability access and participation as key priorities, in order to ensure we are able to host the Cleddau Warriors and disability tournaments. We are very keen to build on the success of the integrated football games that took place last year and host the tournament next year”.
Angela Miles, Disability Sport Wales Development officer for Pembrokeshire said “Clarbeston Road AFC have always provided coaches for Cleddau Warriors AFC and it is fantastic to see the two clubs coming together to form one team. It would be great if some of the Cleddau Warriors players represent Clarbeston Road in the Pembrokeshire League in the near future”.
Michelle Daltry, Disability Sport Wales Partnership manager commented “I am delighted to award Clarbeston Road AFC the insport club of the month award. The club, its players, workforce and wider community have worked extremely hard to ensure that disabled people are given an exceptionally positive experience of football. I hope that this award will inspire the club to continue to grow and act as a motivation for other clubs in Pembrokeshire to follow their example of inclusivity.”
Further information about Clarbeston Road AFC can be found on our web site at http://www.clarbestonroadafc.co.uk
