Jamie is one of the people who help coach disability football as part of the EFL Trust and the Wembley National Stadium Trust’s Every Player Counts initiative, which has seen more than 11,000 people get involved with football over the past three years.
As a youth player with cerebral palsy, Jamie rose through the regional ranks and got as far as England trials.
“I thought I may as well use my disability to help others and coach disability football,” he said, having first thought about a career in sports therapy.
“People come in all the time with no football experience at all with a disability.
“You would put them against all the odds, but with just a little bit of coaching and a little bit of motivation they’re flying.
“You can give them a ball each week, even if they just do a couple of taps it’s progress, and each week is progress.
“As soon as you start to see that, before they know it they’re scoring goals and starting to do what they need to do.”
Jamie is particularly proud of the work he and the Plymouth Argyle Community Trust are doing with footballers who have mental health issues.
“As soon as you walk onto the pitch and start playing football you forget about everything else in the world really, you immerse yourself in the game, even if you don’t really know what you’re doing.
“People don’t always want a coach saying something to them like ‘well done’, they just want to get on with it and it’s things like that, when they can come in and just forget about other things.
“It’s a team sport and you learn to play in a team, but for your individual mental health it’s so important for people to come in and have fun.”
Jamie hopes that once his apprenticeship is over he can get a full-time role working as a coach with the Pilgrims, ensuring that the next generation of young players with disabilities in Plymouth have a coach who they know has been on a similar journey to themselves.
