A football club in East Lancashire is giving the children of solo parents the opportunity to play in an organised team when their circumstances would usually make this difficult.
Solo Parents United FC was set up by football coach Ste Walker to help the children of parents who do not live together get out and play football when they are in the area seeing their parent.
Ste, from Darwen, has been a youth football coach for more than 20 years, climbing up the qualification ladder to become highly experienced in youth football coaching.
He said: “I’ve managed teams over the years and I’ve seen how these parents cannot commit their kids to a club that plays every week.
“For example, I’ve had a message from a guy this morning who lives in Skelmersdale and his children live in Bristol. Every other weekend they come up to Skelmersdale to see him. His kids can’t play in a football club week in week out.
“It’s about enabling these kids not to be restricted from playing in a football club. We’ll train at different places on set dates to cover all areas.”
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As the number of available players and personnel will fluctuate each week, Ste has affiliated the team with the Football Association to play in friendlies and tournaments.
It will also be a cost effective way for the children to play, as Ste will not charge for training and match days, only asking for a one-off registration fee to cover the costs of running the club.
He said: “I’m going to bring in as many volunteers as possible trained up as coaches. To ensure we’re not short on players we’re going to be mixed, so we’ll have girls and boys and that way everyone is playing.”
The club’s black and gold kit is almost ready, Ste says, though they are still looking for sponsors.
The badge depicts children and parents climbing a mountain together with the motto "stronger together".
Ste set up a Facebook group back in 2022 bearing the same name as the football club as a way to end social isolation and empower single parents to try new things with new people.
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