Children with special needs are doing it for themselves

It never ceases to amaze the lengths a loving parent will go to provide a better world for their children. Take former Corinthians prop Derek Niland. Driven to ensure his 11-year-old autistic son was afforded the same sporting opportunities as every other child, Niland decided society or perception would not conjure up the limitations his boy should live his life by.

So, he reached out and reconnected with his former club and the wheels were set in motion in setting up an underage tag rugby team for children with special needs. Now, every Saturday morning, up to 30 children travel from the four corners of the county to Cloonacauneen to be put through their paces.

“We train on Saturdays because all the other underage teams train on Saturdays,” explained Niland. “So, we were just another team in the club training on a Saturday. We aren’t a team with disabilities training; it is just another team out there.

“So, after training, they come in (to the clubhouse) and they have their hot dogs just like every other child. They start the same time as everybody else; they finish the same time as everybody else; and they have the same rules as everybody else.”

Initially, Niland’s son had trained alongside all the other boys his age, with father and son jogging up and down the line and in and out of the drills. “They (Corinthians coaches) said bring him in for a game but it wasn’t the same and he wouldn’t. The kids were great with him – they would ask why isn’t he playing? – but, to be honest, it is easier this way.”

‘This way’ was setting up a team to cater for boys and girls between four and 13 with different capabilities. He chatted Mark Deegan, one of the underage coaches in Corinthians RFC, and following discussions in the wider group, it was decided to put out feelers to see how many would be interested.

“The response was incredible. They are coming from Connemara, North Galway and East Galway, I suppose, because there is nothing really there for their children.”

Along with Corinthians, the team has got massive support from Connacht branch and Niland listed off a ream of names, from players to officers, who have got behind the team. “Conor Cleary, he is the Youth Development Officer, also came out and he helped us coach. He is dynamite.

“He helped us put in the structure and said this is what you need to do. They (Connacht) wanted everything done right so I had to do the coaching courses, do the disability coaching, and everyone had to have Garda clearance. So, everything had to be done right.”

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.