Engaging with disabled participants
We caught up with Tunbridge Wells Flyerz to hear what a difference Flyerz Hockey has made to their club.
'Flyerz' is the term widely associated with disability inclusive hockey across the UK.
They particularly seek to engage disabled people and people with health conditions, and enable them to participate on equal terms.
By opening up the sport of hockey they hope that their learnings will fundamentally change hockey and have an influence on other sports to mainstream inclusion.
The video begins with a trio of logos.
The Buddle logo sits in the middle of the screen, the Sport England Lottery Funded logo below and to the left. The Flyerz Hockey logo is below and to the right. An upbeat backing track plays throughout the video.
The video changes to a white screen displaying the words ‘We caught up with Tunbridge Wells hockey club to hear what a difference Flyerz Hockey has made to their club’.
Onscreen, a young girl in a dark tracksuit is using a hockey stick to push a hockey ball from left to right. She is standing in the middle of an synthetic turf sports pitch and a male wearing a dark tracksuit holding a hockey stick is visible in the background. A female voice with an American accent begins to speak.
The female voiceover says: Flyerz hockey started in 2011 when Access Sport launched our disability inclusion programme to help clubs become more inclusive of disabled young people.
The shot changes several times whilst she speaks, first to show the bottom half of people holding hockey sticks and pushing an orange hockey ball between them. Two males are then shown standing in the middle of the pitch holding hockey sticks and talking to each other.
The shot changes to show the female with the American accent talking to the camera. She has long blonde hair and is wearing a blue sports jacket. An arrow appears on the right-hand side of the screen introducing her as ‘Libby – Programme Manager for Flyerz Hockey’. In the background, people playing hockey are visible.
The shot changes to show a young male in an electric wheelchair pushing a ball on the ground with an adapted hockey stick. He pushes the ball to another young man wearing a blue tracksuit. At the same time, a male voiceover begins.
The male voiceover says: Our biggest challenge probably was around the facilities. Fortunately, both the local council could give us this pitch for free and then one of our local schools have come in and let us use the sports hall. So now we actually have access to facilities so we can run the sessions throughout the year irrespective of what the weather’s like, so our doors are open and we welcome anybody and everyone. We’re constantly trying to expand our footprint. It’s a constant effort to keep spreading the word but the great thing is, just after 18 months, it’s going from strength to strength and success to success which is fantastic.
The shot changes to show the man talking to the camera. He is stood in the middle of the pitch, wearing a blue tracksuit top with the Tunbridge Wells Hockey Club emblem on the right-hand side, above the words ‘Flyerz Coach’. An arrow appears from the left-hand side introducing him as ‘Francis – Head of Flyerz Hockey Tunbridge Wells’.
Whilst he speaks, the shot changes several times. Footage of a young woman holding a hockey stick and pushing a hockey ball along the ground is shown. The shot closes in on her. She is wearing a blue tracksuit with a red t-shirt and carrying a green hockey stick, and is passing the ball to a male participant. The camera pulls back slightly as the ball is passed to other participants including a young female wearing a grey tracksuit top.
The shot changes to show a number of young children wearing yellow bibs playing hockey with older participants watching the activity before the video returns to show Francis talking to the camera.
The shot changes showing a young man standing in the middle of an Astroturf pitch. He is wearing a grey tracksuit and holding a hockey stick. There is a hockey ball by his feet which he pushes to another person who stops the ball before passing it to another participant offscreen.
The shot changes to show a man wearing a blue bobble hat and a red and black hoodie speaking to the camera. An arrow appears from the right-hand side of the screen, introducing him as ‘Marvo – Coach at Flyerz Hockey Tunbridge Wells’.
Marvo says: Well, I got involved in Flyerz right from the beginning really, got a son with Down syndrome. My main motivation in the first place was to get Oliver an opportunity to get some exercise. We tailor the sessions, you know we get different people to come every week. There's a really vast range of ages, abilities, disabilities and then we have some other Flyerz players who really need specialist attention, so we try and give them one on one coaching, and for the rest we kind of try and do group exercises.
Whilst Marvo speaks, the shot changes several times. The first shot features the same young man shown previously. He is wearing a grey tracksuit and pushing a ball with a hockey stick. The shot then changes to a female participant wearing a grey hooded top, pushing a hockey ball to another person using her hockey stick. Marvo is then shown standing in the middle of the pitch, talking to the camera.
The shot then changes to footage of a man wearing a blue tracksuit with the young man in the electric wheelchair shown previously. They are pushing a hockey ball to each other. Panoramic footage of coaches and players on the pitch playing hockey is then shown, before the shot changes to a close up of a man with a beard in full hockey goalkeeping equipment talking to the young man in the electric wheelchair.
The shot changes to show Francis talking to the camera.
Francis says: We've got a couple of wheelchair users, it's not one size fits all, so you need to look to adapt, find something that works for that particular individual. The enjoyment they get, the intellectual and physical development they benefit from, the camaraderie of being part of a team and you can see that both for the individuals themselves and their wider families. It’s just been awesome.
The shot changes several times whilst he is speaking, first to show young children playing hockey, some wearing yellow bibs. The shot then changes to show a male participant in a blue tracksuit, doing a ‘high five’ style celebration with the young man in the electric wheelchair, whilst other people are visible in the background.
The shot changes to show a man walking across the pitch being spoken to by a boy in a grey tracksuit top. The man takes his bobble hat off his head and puts it on the boy’s head. The shot changes to show a young female participant pushing a hockey ball to another female participant.
The video returns to Marvo talking to the camera.
Marvo says: It also teaches not just your kids, but myself and the other coaches have become more patient, become more understanding.
The shot changes to show a small group of young people talking to each other and an older male who is wearing a blue tracksuit top. One of the young people have their arm in a sling.
The shot changes to show Francis talking to the camera.
Francis says: The impact that Flyerz has had on players, coaches and parents is actually beyond what we could have imagined or hoped for when we first started. Its not just their hockey abilities that have developed and flourished, but you actually look at their self-confidence, their willingness to participate as part of a team and just the wider enjoyment of things is great to see. A lot of them come down here with siblings, they join in, they get interested in hockey and you actually see, you know families as a whole benefitting and enjoying being part of Flyerz.
Whilst he speaks, the shot changes several times. The first shot shows a young hockey player wearing a yellow bib, using a hockey stick to push a ball towards someone in goal keeping kit standing in front of a small goal.
Different shots of young people playing hockey are show with a hockey goal in the background. Their coaches are also on the pitch. The video returns to Francis who is talking to the camera.
The shot then changes to show the young person with their arm in a sling walking across the pitch with a young male in a grey top. She is then shown talking to the camera. An arrow appears on the left-hand side of the screen, introducing her as ‘Eleanor – Aged 11’.
Eleanor says: I come and help my brother and other players.
The shot changes to show a young female pushing a ball with a hockey stick, before showing that young female talking to the camera. An arrow appears on the right-hand side of the screen, introducing her as ‘Tabatha – Aged 10’.
Tabatha says: I've just been helping people who are just starting, helping them get used to holding the stick and stuff.
The shot changes to show a young woman wearing a blue and red tracksuit top, watching on as a male participant hits a ball offscreen.
The shot changes to show a young man wearing a grey tracksuit top and glasses. An arrow appears on the right-hand side of the screen introducing him as ‘Jack – Aged 25’.
Jack says: Playing for the team, just shows you can do it no matter what background you come from.
The shot changes to show several people playing a game of hockey , including the young male in the electric wheelchair. Some of them are wearing yellow bibs. They are smiling and enjoying the activity. As this footage is shown, Francis begins to speak as a voiceover.
Francis says: We’re delighted with how quickly it has gotten as big and popular as it Is, but at the same time we're also looking to work quite closely with other clubs locally and with Access Sport and others who are sitting behind the programme to encourage some of the other local clubs to get involved with Flyerz as well. Any club that provides sessions for juniors is actually perfectly set up to provide Flyerz sessions. Most clubs will actually find that they’re pretty much all the way there.
The video returns to Francis talking to the camera, before the shot changes to show the bottom half of participants practising in front of the goal. One participant is wearing goal keeping kit and tries to stop the ball getting into the goal.
The shot then changes back to Francis talking to the camera, before footage of a number of hockey players of assorted ages on a pitch, some with yellow bibs on, is shown. There is an adult pushing a hockey ball along the ground whilst others are trying to get the ball from him.
The shot returns to a close up of Francis talking to the camera before changing to show the male in the electric wheelchair, moving across the pitch from left to right. Another male participant follows him and other people can be seen in the background.
Marvo begins to speak in a voiceover as the shot changes several times.
Marvo says: If you want to get something like this started, speak to a school, borrow a hall, borrow a pitch and turn up. Word of mouth gets out. There are so few opportunities for these children to get involved in activities in a normalised way that if the word gets out then they jump at the chance, the parents jump at the chance. So, my advice if you want to get started is just take the leap. If one person turns up that's better than none and before you know it, you'll have an entire field full.
Several people are shown walking towards a hockey goal. To the left, the young male in the electric wheelchair and another young male are moving towards the goal. The shot changes to show a close up of the group of people standing around the hockey goal before Marvo is shown talking to the camera.
The shot returns to show the group of people, including participants, coaches, parents and children, who have been shown throughout the video coming together to stand in front of the hockey goal. Francis begins speaking in a voiceover.
Francis says: In terms of advice to other clubs who want to become more inclusive, there's one word for that or two words ‘do it’. It's just so worthwhile. We owe it to ourselves, to our communities to do it anyway, but once you actually get involved with it and see how much fun it is and actually how straight forward it is. It's much easier than some people think. It’s just so worthwhile and everyone should be doing it.
The group of people at the hockey goal are getting ready to have their photograph taken. At the front of the group, some of the participants are holding up a banner which says ‘Tunbridge Wells Hockey Club - TW Flyerz Wish Alex Danson a Speedy Recovery #HockeyFamily’.
The shot changes to show a close up of Francis talking to the camera. The video then shows the group having their photograph taken, before alternating between showing Francis talking to the camera and the group in front of the hockey goal until the end of the video.
The video closes with a final shot of a white screen showing the text ‘Big thanks to Access Sport’. Underneath, the Access sport logo there is a tagline ‘Transforming lives through sport’.
The shot changes to show the same trio of the Buddle, Sport England Lottery Funded and Flyerz Hockey logos shown at the beginning of the video. The video ends.