Amputee Football Tournament

About the Tournament

More than 30 Ukrainian war veterans will travel to England in April, to take part in a charity amputee football tournament. The event has been organised by newly founded humanitarian charity Tackling Matters, and will include amputee football teams from Ukraine, England and Scotland.

Tackling Matters have invited our Members to play in the tournament, as teams compete throughout the day on a pitch specially erected for the occasion, on the infamous Sandhurst parade in front of the Old College. 

Who Can Apply?

Tackling Matters have set the following criteria for this tournament:

• Generally, outfield players are lower limb amputees and goalkeepers have an upper limb missing - if a goalkeeper has, for example, a hand missing rather than the full arm, they are asked to tuck the arm into their shirt

• The game is normally played on crutches and there will be spare sets there for Members to try. However, because many of those attending will be new to the game, prosthetics will be allowed to be worn if preferred. (Using the crutches for the first time can be pretty tough going on the upper body!)
• No prior experience is needed. While some of the teams attending will be very experienced, there will be others who are very new to the sport. For this reason, a two-tier system is likely to be in place on the day, putting less experienced teams out together
• In amputee football there is no limit to the number of subs and Tackling Matters want this to be more of a Festival of Football than anything too competitive. They will be shortening the matches to just 10/15 mins each way in order to fit in as many matches as possible and to take into account the fact that many participants may not be at full fitness. Anybody that applies must be medically fit to take part
• Male and Female Members are both equally welcome to apply. 

How to Apply

To apply, or for more information, please email Chris Knight, Corporate & Regional Fundraising Manager at crfm@blesma.org

Please note: although we are sharing this opportunity, this is an external opportunity and it is not endorsed by Blesma. Your details will be shared with Tackling Matters.