{"id":19780,"date":"2024-07-21T10:08:04","date_gmt":"2024-07-21T06:08:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/accessabilitiesexpo.com\/?p=19780"},"modified":"2025-12-13T12:00:45","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T12:00:45","slug":"joy-and-laughter-the-leicester-rugby-team-for-children-with-downs-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/accessabilitiesexpo.com\/new\/joy-and-laughter-the-leicester-rugby-team-for-children-with-downs-syndrome\/","title":{"rendered":"Joy and laughter: the Leicester rugby team for children with Down\u2019s syndrome"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”19782″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_border”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]\n

Parents say the training sessions are a \u2018lifeline\u2019 opportunity for their children to participate in sport<\/em><\/p>\n

A rugby team set up for young people with Down\u2019s syndrome has been described as a \u201clifeline\u201d by parents who say there is a chronic lack of opportunities for their children.<\/p>\n

Leicester Tigers launched the team in October last year and now have more than 40 families signed up to their fortnightly training sessions.<\/p>\n

Kelly Towl, whose eight-year-old, Lucie-Ann, attends the sessions said the team had had a positive impact on her daughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere aren\u2019t many sports aimed solely at children with Down\u2019s syndrome, so for that to actually happen is positive,\u201d she said. \u201cYour children are not judged, we\u2019re not judged \u2026 we\u2019re all in the same boat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Towl, a mother of three whose family are fans of Leicester Tigers and regularly attend matches, said she was very excited by the opportunity for her daughter to participate in the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think children with Down\u2019s syndrome, they\u2019re stereotyped \u2026 so this really is a lifeline, and other sports and other teams should really take note,\u201d she said. \u201cYou\u2019ve only got to see the smile on their faces on a Sunday morning and the hug they give each other, it\u2019s just tear-jerking.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Judy Lindsay-Timmins, parent to Louis, 17, described the team as a \u201csafe, wonderful environment for our young people\u201d that had developed her son\u2019s communication, concentration and confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cLouis is very active, loves being outside and being given the opportunity to join sports the same as anyone else,\u201d she said. \u201cHe feels as if he\u2019s a member of a team. A family group \u2026 because instead of being on the sidelines, he\u2019s embraced, he\u2019s part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The parents described the team as indispensable, particularly due to the chronic lack of community groups for children and families with Down\u2019s syndrome.<\/p>\n

When asked if there were similar groups available in her local area, Lindsay-Timmons said: \u201cNo, definitely not. We live in Lincolnshire, so we travel nearly an hour, so over 30 miles to come, because there is nothing in our local area.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source: The Guardian<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”19782″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_border”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
\nParents say the training sessions are a \u2018lifeline\u2019 opportunity for their children to participate in sport
\nA rugby team set up for young people with Down\u2019s syndrome has been described as a \u201clifeline\u201d by parents who say there is a chronic lack of opportunities for their children.
\nLeicester Tigers launched the team in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":355,"featured_media":19782,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,23,43,28,18],"tags":[96],"class_list":{"0":"post-19780","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-english","8":"category-english-press","9":"category-event-news","10":"category-limitless-newsletter","11":"category-news","12":"tag-limitless-july"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/accessabilitiesexpo.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/accessabilitiesexpo.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/accessabilitiesexpo.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accessabilitiesexpo.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/355"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accessabilitiesexpo.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19780"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/accessabilitiesexpo.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33320,"href":"https:\/\/accessabilitiesexpo.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19780\/revisions\/33320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accessabilitiesexpo.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/accessabilitiesexpo.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accessabilitiesexpo.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accessabilitiesexpo.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}