FAQs

DFFC stands for ‘Deaf Friendly Football Club’. This is a three-year project that started at the end of 2006. The project is designed to remove the barriers to participation in football that many deaf children and young people face.

These barriers include –

• lack of appropriate communication support (e.g. BSL signers)

• lack of local football opportunities for deaf children to participate in

• myths & misconceptions about deafness (e.g. that you need to shout to make yourselves heard)

• lack of qualified deaf football coaches, officials and administrators

• insufficient and inaccessible information about football opportunities

• lack of structured player pathways for progression for young deaf players

By working at all levels of the game over the next three years, NDCS will address each of these barriers through the development of information and resources, the provision of training and the setting up of a youth deaf football infrastructure in England.
 

The project will undertake a range of initiatives to help deaf children and young people participate in football activities in England. Our main targets during the three years are listed below. 

• Host deaf football festivals around England in partnership with local professional and deaf football clubs. This year we are working in London (Arsenal), Norwich, Leeds and Nottingham

• Hold FA Coaching Courses for deaf young people with BSL Tutors and Interpreters present. The first courses will be held at Doncaster College for the Deaf this summer

• Host a yearly deaf youth football tournament for all deaf youth teams to enter and play against each other. The first will take place at West Bromwich Albion FC in the autumn

• Accredit FA Charter Standard Clubs with ‘deaf friendly’ status to show their members have undergone deaf awareness training and are actively engaging in recruiting young deaf people to their club

• Develop a Coaching Deaf Footballers Course for hearing coaches to learn more about how to communicate with deaf children they may be coaching

• Develop a DFFC DVD that is available to clubs and coaches. It includes coaching tips, case studies and even some basic football BSL! The DVD will be launched in the autumn

• Develop an online database listing all ‘deaf friendly’ clubs and deaf football opportunities across the country

• Raise awareness and opportunities for deaf young people to play football in whatever environment they choose at whatever level they aspire to
  

NDCS has been awarded £251,646 towards the three-year project. The funding has come from a number of organisations with 80% from the Football Foundation and the remainder from Phonak UK Ltd (a hearing aid manufacturer) and Sportsmatch (an organisation that matches funds given by companies for sports projects)

A ‘deaf friendly’ club is any FA Charter Standard club that meets our criteria and agrees to abide with certain conditions to ensure their club is ensuring their club, facilities and teams are welcoming environments for deaf children and young people. All clubs have signed up to our DFFC pledge that spells out the conditions the club must meet.

The NDCS DFFC project works together with all these clubs to help them achieve and retain their ‘deaf friendly’ status. This can involve inviting club coaches and officials onto our Coaching Deaf Footballers course, providing the club with a copy of our DFFC DVD (includes deaf awareness tips and some basic football related BSL) 

You can find your nearest club by clicking on the link below. This will take you to our online database of clubs and other useful organisations. You can then search for your nearest club by region and you can contact them directly.

Search our database. 

Your club is welcome to become part of the DFFC project! The only criteria is that you must be an FA Charter Standard club and are willing to abide by the conditions of the DFFC Pledge. You can read the Pledge here and contact us about your interest by contacting us on email at football@ndcs.org.uk

(Please note if you are using web mail  title your email "How can my club join the DFFC project?")

If you are not part of a club, you can become involved in the DFFC project in a number of ways. This includes volunteer coaching at your local ‘deaf friendly’ club, volunteering to help at our football events, either as a communicator (to assist hearing coaches working with deaf children) or as an event assistant, helping with the organisation of the event and assisting the football coaches. You can contact us to register your interest and to find out more about upcoming opportunities in your area by contacting us on email at football@ndcs.org.uk

(Please note if you are using web mail title your email "How can I get involved in the DFFC project as a coach or volunteer?")

The majority of our money comes from the Football Foundation, a charitable organisation that is funded by the English FA, The Premier League and Sport England, as well as the DCMS (Government).  Therefore we can only work in England at this moment in time. However, we are exploring other avenues of funding to enable us to work in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the future and replicate the success of the project in all areas of the UK!

For contacts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland we have included some in Search our database