Welcome to Coach And The Doctor, thanks to Gilda Care Support Coordination, where it takes a village.
The Coach: Good day, and welcome to a special episode of Coach And The Doctor, not a real coach, and not a real doctor. Course minus the doctor today who is out on a house call, not a real house call. Hope to have him back soon.
Over the next few months, we will be popping up at various disability events, so listen out for us. Or suppose I should say watch out for us as well. First up is the FIDA Tackle-Free Carnival in Ringwood, a suburb here in Melbourne, Australia. Everybody had a fantastic day, it was a beautiful day. The clubs involved: Ringwood Spiders, Lower Plenty Bears, Park Side, Sandown Cobras, and a FIDA team made up of players from St Albans Saints, Mazenod Panthers, Ferntree Gully Eagles, and the Coburg Lions. This carnival is the first of its kind and to tell us all about it is FIDA’s CEO, Mary Pozzobon.
Mary, thanks for joining us, or maybe I’m joining you.
Mary: You sure are. Welcome to our very first tackle-free carnival.
The Coach: So, let’s just set the picture here. It’s a beautiful Sunday morning in Ringwood in Victoria, Australia, for those who listen to us overseas. What are we doing here, and how did this all come about?
Mary: Good question there Coach, what we are doing here today is increasing our opportunity for those with an intellectual disability to participate in Aussie rules football. FIDA has been around for thirty-plus years, 33 years, and during that time we’ve had some home and away type competitions, etc. What we have found is that players want to have an opportunity to play who are what we call low-functioning, so their capabilities are of a lower skill level, but at the same time we want to give them a safe environment where they really can get the opportunity to kick the ball.
The Coach: Who came up with this idea?
Mary: The tackle-free carnival came about from last years community day that we did at the Box Hill Hawks, so there was an appetite at the time by some clubs to allow their lower functioning players the opportunity to kick the ball, reach out for the ball, or even women to build their confidence around the ball so that they don’t feel like they’re going to be tackled or pushed to the ground. So we tried a community day at Box Hill Hawks, asked a few teams to come down and they had an awesome day. So that was our little, I suppose taste of it to see whether there was an appetite in the club land for it, and there was. So, in our fixture for 2024, what we decided to do was create three tackle-free carnivals for the season, this is the first one. So we’ve kicked it off. We have 5 teams here today, so four are from actual FIDA clubs, and the fifth team, what we’ve done, is we’ve made up individuals who want to play from different clubs, a FIDA team, so we didn’t want to leave anyone out who perhaps didn’t have a full 8/9 players to play. We also have a club that is struggling to play in the home and away season because they don’t have enough participants, but do want to focus on the juniors and bringing that skill base and that FIDA piece into the tackle-free carnival, so that is our Sandown Cobra friends. The way it came about was we sat down, talked to the clubs and decided we wanted to do it in a carnival style, so round-robin, give everyone a few games, not just you know play and disappear, and make a day of it. The sun has come out and I'm very very pleased about that 'cause everyones got smiles and in short sleeve T-shirts and quite happy to be around today.
The Coach: The great thing about Melbourne, people can criticise Melbourne weather, but there are definitely four Seasons, sometimes happening in the space of an hour or so, but definitely a beautiful autumn day. It must be exciting though for you, as an administrator if you like, to create something and you sit down and you actually creating a hybrid version of the game and new rules. Do you feel like you're a bit of a creator?
Mary: Yeah absolutely. As CEO last year, I came in and what I noticed was it was perhaps a lot of that traditional gameplay. I noticed over the year that we have a lot of different types of intellectual disability , and it was about thinking ‘how do we involve everybody?’ you know if we had 450,000 people in Australia that have an intellectual disability, there is obviously a large proportion of those who would love Aussie rules football. So to be able to find something to tackle that was probably in the forefront of our thinking and our strategic planning. We've got the national carnival for those at the elite level, what do we have for those that are lower functional and never really get to see that sort of high-level competition and be awarded for different things. So that's one of the things we've introduced this year with the tackle-free carnival. It's just amazing, and we will probably trial it perhaps in some specialist schools in a clinic version and try to then pave the pathway for these players to move into FIDA clubs. If we can bolster the clubs, they will then have more volunteers and helpers around, and their clubs will prosper.
The Coach: Can you fill in the blank space for me I know now what FIDA stands for, and it's rather complicated, what's the acronym?
Mary: FIDA is the Football Integration Development Association. Back in the day when it started, we think about intellectual disability, it was often cornered and if players wanted to play they might be able to get into a mainstream club - if there were at a low level but still had the skill base - and then after that if they were successful, often they were last on the bench or not played when it got to finals times, etc. FIDA came about because where else can these players go? No club really were interested in having them, going back 33 years. These days you know you have the all abilities and people are more interested, but there is still a long long way to go.
The Coach: I think also, people are more aware.
Mary: 100%. I would say in the last five to ten years, and potentially because of the NDIS, I don't know, but people are aware that it's around, maybe in employment situations there is more opportunities for different sorts of people, so they’re seeing it more, perhaps. And I think the other part is people don't feel confronted anymore, you know, I think there is a fear factor for those who have not seen intellectual disability before that they feel confronted; what do I do, what do I say, how do I handle it? As opposed to saying, ‘they're just another human’, and just talking to them like you would talk to anybody else.
The Coach: I know my involvement in the disability sector is about five or six years and I've mentioned this before on our podcast, Coach and The Doctor, many times, but it's changed the way I think, the way I act, and the way I behave for the better. But, before we go, I need to ask you one question: what does disability look like to you?
Mary: I don't think I have anything that looks like disability 'cause everyone's got capability.
The Coach: Perfect answer, Mary. Thank you for your time.
Mary: You're welcome, Coach. Good to see you again.
The Coach: Mary Pozzobon there, the CEO of FIDA, which as she mentioned in the chat stands for Football integration development association. They do a fantastic job.
One of the things that I really enjoyed about the carnival was the fun level, it just went through the roof. The disability community sure know how to put on a good show.
Carnivals like this of course can't happen unless many people donate their time and energy and, on occasions, money. One of those people is Nick Soccio who is the coach of the Lower Plenty team.
Nick, nice to see you.
Nick: Nice to see you and meet you.
The Coach: This is what I say, unique. Tell us about this competition because I think its unique.
Nick: Okay, this competition was, I suppose, brought about by enabling people with disabilities, and low functioning people with disabilities, to enjoy the game. They do play in teams, but unfortunately those teams, you know they play get better quality players and they might only get one touch in the game, sometimes nothing. It all depends how the game is going, so this is a good chance for them to have a kick to kick, run and just enjoy it. Really, if you see the smiles on their faces today, it's what it's meant to be.
The Coach: Well, Nick obviously by the fact you just helped wipe one of your participants – your son’s – nose, you’re more than just a coach to these guys.
Nick: Well, yes, I've been around a long time, so yeah, I feel like I'm sort of part of the furniture I suppose like I’m a part of their family if you know I mean. I’ve known these guys for a long, long time so it's like everything, they've got confidence with coming up to me, and I’ve got confidence with them, and their parents have as well.
So, you obviously got involved because of your son?
Correct, yes. I didn't even know there was a league eleven years ago, I didn't even know one existed, but one day one of my son’s friends said we're starting up a team and it all began from there. And this was the ground we first played on!
The Coach: At Jubilee Park in Ringwood in Melbourne. What’s your son's disability Nick?
Nick: Nathan’s got autism and is developmentally delayed, he's probably got the attitude of a 6–7-year-old and that's what it's all about, but he just wants to play football.
The Coach: And that seems to be the common thread running through all of this. They just want to play football, they want to get out there, they want to socialise, and they do.
Nick: And believe me, most of these guys, all they want to do is enjoy it and they’ll celebrate even the other teams goal. They just want to have fun and they've all been around long enough now, and they know each other. So that is the good part about this stage.
The Coach, Now the FIDA logo, I know you've got that there because you are one of the coaches, how important is FIDA to make all of this happen?
Nick: Well, FIDA is very important because you know, we need someone that's running this sort of structure and league to coordinate, because without that it's very hard to coordinate everything. But it also comes down to the clubs having volunteers and, yes, it's taken a long time to get to this level, but it's growing and growing.
The Coach: So what's your day to day involvement in this? Sounds to me like you're pretty much immersed in all of this.
Nick: Well, I'm lucky, I've just retired so I've got a little bit more time up my sleeve, but yeah I do run our team, not run the club but I've been the head of the club for a long time and I’m happy for other people to work on it, so yeah it's good.
The Coach: That's the one-minute siren warning, so we got a minute left because Nick’s got to go and do what he does best. And coach, the next one, what's the one thing that you've gotten out of today so far?
Nick: Oh look, I just love to see the smiles on their faces and that's all. It's about participating, we've got half girls, half boys on our team, and making sure that everyone gets a kick and everyone gets a goal. Like now I’ve made sure everyone's got a goal in this, so now we can relax. It doesn't matter what happens after this.
The Coach: I’m just getting the wind up, it’s like the old days when I used to report on the AFL. Nick, what does disability look like to you?
Nick: Look for me, I've known disability since I was 28 years old so it now comes natural to me. I don't see the barriers and things like that, I see the inclusion. Being part of our family, if you know my son, me and my wife, we’re not a twosome, we're not a couple, we’re a threesome. So you know what I mean, everywhere we go he goes.
The Coach: Great answer Nick, have fun.
Nick: Thank you very much, nice to talk to you.
The Coach: Nick Soccio there. Coach, Dad, administrator, and I’m sure at times, bottle-washer, to name a few. Of course there can't be a carnival without the players. I managed to grab a couple of the Ringwood Spiders, Marc King and Brittney Moran.
Marc, Ringwood Spiders, how did you go in the tournament?
Marc: Yeah, pretty good so far, yeah, I’m really enjoying it.
The Coach: Do you like the no tackling?
Marc: Yeah, it’s nice to have something with no tackles. Yeah, it's really good.
The Coach: Who's your favourite player to play with?
Marc: Pretty much everybody, especially the new players coming in and having a crack and give a handball to them.
The Coach: Good on you mate, there’s presentations now so I’ll let you go. Thanks for your time.
Marc: Yeah, that’s alright. Thank you.
The Coach: Brittany, that looked like a lot of fun.
Brittney: It was a lot of fun.
The Coach: What makes this different from any other sort of footy you play?
Brittney: It’s helping other teams that aren't quite as good. You’re just helping them out.
The Coach: What's the thing that stands out for you playing these sorts of games?
Brittney: Just going out there, having fun, win, lose or draw, it doesn’t really matter.
The Coach: How much difference has it made in your life?
Brittney: It's made a lot of difference. From since the first time I've played, since I started playing at Ferntree Gully, and then I come across and I'm like, yep, this is my home.
The Coach: Can you describe how that feels to play sport?
Brittney: It just gets me out of my comfort zone every day. When I do it, I'm just gonna go out there and have fun.
The Coach: What about mom and dad?
Brittney: They're really good they help a lot with my anxiety.
The Coach: So, it looks like you're having fun, you guys all walked away with something, there's some sort of bag there so that's good, who knows what’s in it. But Brittany, one question, being somebody that lives with a disability, what's disability look like to you?
Brittney: It's a lot harder to do things in the social aspect of life.
The Coach: So, would you say you're enjoying your life at the moment?
Brittney: Yes, yes, I am.
The Coach: Good on you Brittany. Thank you so much for your time and I hope to see you the next carnival.
Brittney: Thanks, you too.
The Coach: Brittney Moran there, and before that, Marc King. Both from the Ringwood Spiders tackle-free disability team.
It was a great day and I'm looking forward to the next one in June. If you'd like to get involved, contact FIDA on their website, that's F-I-D-A, or you can email ceo@fida.org.au. Donations also are accepted on the website to enable programs and opportunities to continue. Well, that's it for now, and I'd like to thank Mary Pozzobon, Nick Soccio Brittany Moran, Mark King for their contribution and of course FIDA for allowing us access. Also, our producer, engineer guru, Darryl Misson. And from me, Coach, till next time. Hopefully with the doctor. Coach out.
You’ve been listening to Coach And The Doctor thanks to Gilda Care Support Coordination.