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Jordan's Story - Growing Through Sport

Jordan is a Palace-mad 15-year-old who has been supporting the club for as long as he can remember. Through the Foundation, he has been able to fulfill his passion to play football, gain new skills and prepare for his future.

Jordan attends Bensham Manor, a special secondary community school for boys and girls with moderate learning difficulties and autism in Thornton Health focusing on language and functional skills development, where he has been taking part in after-school football sessions for more than three years.

His mum, Catarina, explained: “Jordan absolutely loves Palace, he goes to a lot of the matches, he is very involved in football sessions with Palace for Life Foundation and he absolutely loves it!”

Jordan’s enthusiasm and commitment led to his coach, Keon Richardson, recommending him for a Sports Leaders course, to further develop his confidence.

Keon, Disability Officer at the Foundation, explained: “Jordan has been a stalwart participant at our after-school football session. He is the first to arrive and the last to leave as he’s helping me pick up the cones. He’s confident in giving constructive feedback to his peers and is always encouraging when the other participants make mistakes.

“I decided to put him forward for the Sports Leaders Level 1 to increase his skills in motivating others and understanding the role of a coach. He has been even more helpful since successfully completing the course!”

As a result, Jordan is now keen to help the Foundation and has ideas for how he could give back to others in the community.

He said: “This club is a massive part of my life and the Foundation has helped me a lot. It’s important to help kids with disabilities and I just want to carry that on, I would like to set up my own team one day and hopefully next year I can take part in the Marathon March, too.”

Catarina added: “My son’s confidence has grown so much since he has started with Palace for Life and I am so proud of him, I’d like to thank the support team, he has such a good bond with the coaches.”

To find out more about the Foundation’s Disability Programmes, please contact keonrichardson@palaceforlife.org

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