AFC Bournemouth
For Fin Smith, football is his life and he doesn’t let anything get in the way of that.
A prominent member of the club’s Ability Counts team for the past six years, the Community Sports Trust has provided a safe and friendly environment for the youngster, who is autistic, to regularly participant in.
That connection has been more valuable than ever over the past 12 months, with the Coronavirus pandemic bringing sessions to a halt and a lack of social interaction with teammates and coaches.
But that hasn’t stopped Fin and his Ability Counts group, who have been able to make the most of Zoom calls and quizzes every week.
To mark World Autism Day, afcb.co.uk spoke to Fin’s mother, Alice, as well as community coach, Hannah Powis, to hear about how the squad have kept in touch over lockdown, as well as the remarkable growth that been evident over the past few years in the 12-year-old.
“He’s loved the Zoom sessions recently and he’s been able to make sure that his friends are okay,” began Alice.
“He’s been able to see Hannah and Steve [Cuss] on Zoom too, so he’s really enjoyed it and it’s been a sense of security for him that everybody is okay.
“It’s also kept a routine for him because, with autism, people like a routine. Every Thursday, which is the same day that his training would’ve been on, it’s a Zoom call and he still sees his friends.
“He’s really looking forward to being able to see everyone in person. We had a call last week and Hannah discussed the return to football and he’s so excited.
“He’s booked onto the soccer schools for the Easter holiday too!”
It’s been quite a journey for Fin, who started attending Community Sports Trust sessions when he was just six years old.
The growth in confidence both on and off the pitch has been evident ever since, with Alice describing the development she continues to see on a daily basis.
“He started off with Ability Counts and that gave him such a big sense of confidence and a group of friends where he could just be Fin.
“Something that I’ve noticed with them is that they don’t see each other with a disability – they just are who they are. It allows him to be who he is and enjoy something that he loves doing.
“It’s a massive achievement for him to be part of a team and to be playing in a league. Having that sense of competition like you see on the TV, where they play in a league, is great because he’s playing in a league too.
“He loves the coaches and they have been absolutely amazing with him. They understand him and I think they only really have to look at him to know whether he’s understood what they’ve said or not. They can then just judge whether they need to re-explain it.”
Disability inclusion officer Hannah, who has been coaching Fin since she took up a role in the Community Sports Trust, echoed the progress that has been seen.
“I met Fin when I first started about four years ago and he was playing in our Ability Counts setup,” she said.
“At the time, he was quite shy, didn’t have much confidence but gradually, over about a year or so, I got to know him and Alice really well.
“Since then, he’s just blossomed into this amazing young man and he does so much stuff.”
Hannah went on to explain how the confidence that has come from attending Ability Counts sessions has allowed him to make the step into mainstream coaching.
“I think it was probably about two years ago that Alice spoke to me and asked if he could try one of our mainstream sessions, so we spoke with the coaches to make sure he would know somebody there.
“We also wanted to let the coaches know that he might need a little bit more in terms of understanding how things work. So he attended a session and, ever since, he hasn’t looked back.
“He literally goes to everything now, he attends mainstream sessions, he goes to the mainstream soccer schools and he’s actually one of the better players in there and really holds his own.
“What has been really nice is that he still attends our disability sessions – he’s one of the better players and that’s brought out some nice stuff in him.
“You’ll see him speaking with the younger players and helping them learn new skills, encouraging them too, and it’s brought that side out of him which is lovely.”
However, it hasn’t been an easy ride for Fin, who took some time to adjust.
But with the help of the community coaches, specialised sessions and a brilliant group of team-mates, the youngster has blossomed and continues to make those around him extremely proud.
Alice continued: “When he first started, he was little and probably about six or seven, but he really didn’t like it at first. We persevered and to see him grow in confidence and find a skill which, I hate to say, makes him feel normal is brilliant.
“He’s got a level playing field where he can talk to children about something and have the understanding about it.
“He doesn’t have to think about what he’s going to say or what it will sound like. He knows his stuff about football, it’s a passion and he can be on their level and talk about it like that – I am so proud of him!
“The coaches just get him and Hannah was very proactive about speaking to the mainstream coaches about Fin, so that when he was attending their sessions, they knew how to deal with him."
Patience has been key for the Smith family, as Alice went on to recall her son’s first few sessions.
“When he first started, we made a point that we would stay in the car park. The sessions were just at the stadium, so we made sure that we could see him.
“Then it got to a point where I felt so comfortable that I’d say to the coach that I was heading off, but I’d only be at Tesco if they needed me, so I’d go off and leave him.
“Now, I drop him off at 10am at a soccer school and then I don’t pick him up until 3pm! I feel completely comfortable and secure in knowing that they’ll do everything they can for him.
“For me as a parent, their diagnosis doesn’t define them but, by having the opportunities to take him to these sessions, it allows people to see that if you do have a disability such as autism, it doesn’t stop you doing everyday things.
“We’ve talked with friends from Ability Counts and now their kids have started attending mainstream sessions too because they see how well Fin has coped and how well the coaches have coped with him.”
With the club being such a community-orientated organisation, there have been other perks to Fin’s participation in both Ability Counts and mainstream sessions.
The youngster, who would normally travel home and away with his dad and who managed to get to the Wycombe game in December when fans were permitted, has met a whole network of people through the club and its community sessions.
“We’re a little family and we always WhatsApp each other just to make sure that everybody is okay,” Alice said.
“It’s a whole network and the football has opened up that network for us. The sense of pride you get when you watch them play, you can’t put it into words.
“The growth in confidence from when he attended his first Ability Counts session to now and the journey that he’s been on is amazing, and it has only happened because of the support of the community coaches.”
While Alice was keen to express her thanks to those who have aided Fin’s development, it has been an equally enjoyable journey for coaches like Hannah: “I’m so proud, not just for me but for all the other staff that have been involved with Fin’s progress. He’s developed into this really wonderful young man.
“As part of the Ability Counts pathway, it is our hope that some of them will go on and play mainstream and we’re lucky that we have that fluidity between our programmes and that we have that inclusivity.
“We’ve also done some good stuff over Zoom and Fin did a quiz for his teammates recently. It focused around football and there were lots of questions about AFC Bournemouth.
“Even that for Fin, when I met him that isn’t something he would’ve done. Zoom is quite a hard platform to engage with too, so to see him leading a quiz on there with all his team-mates was amazing.
“Even school have commented!” Alice remarked. “He’s been at school during lockdown because I work in a school and when they’ve had Zoom sessions, he’ll be there telling the teacher how they get onto Zoom!
“They say that seeing him interacting at the level he is, be it with the coaches or other children, the change in him is unbelievable. It’s really affected his whole being.”
And that was perfectly summed up by Fin in a recent Zoom call, as he made it clear that, after getting so much enjoyment from such sessions, his aspiration is in fact to become a community coach!
Asked how she felt hearing the youngster talk of his ambition, Hannah said: “It literally melted my heart!
“Sometimes we maybe take for granted the role we play in their development and you forget that they see us as a role model.
“It was really nice to hear his aspirations and that some point he wants to become a coach and we know we can support him with that, so it was amazing to hear him say what he did.”
To find out more information about our Ability Counts or disability programmes, please contact Hannah Powis on [email protected]
