We always find it important to share feel good stories from our advisers and offices around the country, and this month, we take you down to Cornwall, where our Head of Life Planning Jeremy Squibb and his football team Helston Dolphins Under 9s Girls have been catching the eye of the Cornish FA for all the right reasons.
At a recent match against St Agnes which not only featured a number of new players for the St Agnes team, but also one very special girl called Connie who has Down’s Syndrome, the true spirit of sport was demonstrated.
Nobody knew how much or little involvement Connie would have through the game as this was both the team and Connie’s first match, any involvement would have been a great triumph.
From kick off, the Dolphins were not only mindful of Connie, but continually supported and encouraged her even though she was playing for the opposite team.
Connie stayed on the pitch for the whole match, scoring 2 goals with great support and encouragement from all concerned. The attitude, and compassion shown by The Dolphins inspired St Agnes Chairperson to write to the Cornish FA, who shared this article :
https://www.cornwallfa.com/…/positivity-and-inclusivity…
Jeremy Squibb said:
“As someone who was never particularly athletic at school, I am ever mindful of what it is like to be left out or overlooked. My ability was not perhaps strong either, but without any encouragement or inclusion, it was never going to improve.
Over previous years, we (Helston U9s) have learnt from past experiences and consciously made a decision to always play and behave in a courteous and caring manner to our opponents, whether we win, lose or draw. I believe there is a right way and a wrong way, and the girls can learn far more about life than football during their time with the team.
The smile on our goalkeeper’s face when Connie scored was genuinely something to behold – genuine love and compassion.
We have such caring players at the Dolphins and that is the really beautiful thing about girls football, it’s to play fairly at all costs, not to win at all costs.
The most important thing for all of us to take away, is to do right, not be right, to offer the hand of friendship, support and encouragement, staying grounded, dignified and full of humility”.
Inspired by the support of the Cornwall FA and St Agnes, The Dolphins launched a charity Halloween themed fancy dress match aiming to raise funds for Cornwall Down’s Syndrome Support Group. You can read more information about that event here:
https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/helstondolphins
We’ll update you next month on how much was presented to the group when the two teams next meet in November.
