Colin Newcombe, loyal supporter of the AFLUA and current umpire in the Colac district, is driving a fundraiser to assist the Football Integration Development Association (FIDA). FIDA provides and oversees a football competition for people with intellectual disabilities. Please see a caption of Colin’s reasoning and details for his fundraiser below;
I recently umpired a game this year where a Down Syndrome boy kicked a goal, in the Youtube link below you will notice it was through the goal he was meant to defend, but to Dale that didn’t matter. The Sherrin football would have been two years old and kicked around the park plenty of times.
This was a section of an email/Facebook message that I sent that night;
Today when I was umpiring, the ball hit the point post on the full resulting in a free kick. I noticed a down syndrome boy was the closest defender. I let him take the kick and he turned around and kicked it through the goals. I could have tried to stop him but I thought well that means he can have two kicks. So then he kicked the ball in the right direction. For the rest of the game he kept reminding us all that he had kicked a goal. I reckon everyone in Dale’s world will be told that story plenty of times this week.
Come and watch a FIDA game of footy and let these special footballers tug at your heart strings too.
I have been really touched by some of these players and believe that together we can make a difference. Here is the link to a clip that was done on FIDA last year and you will see the type of footballers we are trying to assist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Qay-H1qt_oM
For a guide the footballs we wish to purchase would cost –
- $45.00 for a Sherrin Lyrebird football – suitable for training
- $100.00 for a Sherrin match football – suitable for Games/Training
- $120.00 for a Sherrin KB Football – if we really want to spoil them
Please click here to view the donation form
Note: Donations to FIDA is a tax deduction