How Jack Grealish helped a teenager tell him he 'wasn't disabled enough' to play football

Teenager Bryan Kilpatrick-Elliott had struggled to find a path into grassroots football, with his cerebral palsy preventing him from playing for traditional youth clubs.

After finding his way to para football and working his way through the English system based at St George's Park for almost ten years, Bryan found himself not only in a place where he could enjoy football again, but also seek much-needed support among his peers who have had similar life experiences.

Like all players in the para-football system, they must be classified at the age of 16 in order to maintain a level playing field for competitions. This involves a medical examination before a place for the next stage of the program can be allocated. Having received assurances that Bryan would be placed, despite his slightly milder condition, the Doncaster-based teenager was devastated to learn last year that he was not reaching the standard required to continue.

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Accompanied by his father, also called Bryan, the pair left St George's Park in August last year for the final time, with no support offered to players who are told they cannot continue, and with a door closed to para-football in the future.

To make matters worse, the classification decision is final, meaning Bryan cannot play for any para football team. “He is not disabled enough for para football but too disabled for competitive mainstream football,” his father Bryan told the Manchester Evening News.

“They said it was not good news, that you were not disabled enough to undergo this classification decision and that you would not continue with the program. Elite sport is brutal at all levels, but as it was never considered or mentioned beforehand, you literally walk out of this building and that's the end of it.

“He obviously took the news badly, he is still a little lost about his place and where he can go. Even if organizations claim that football is for everyone, traditional football is not a place for children who struggle with physical or emotional disabilities.

“He was in a difficult situation, ready to give up, he played from the age of eight to 16 and he was given so much time. We travel to Manchester every week and sacrificed a lot, and now they don't let him play the sport anymore . designed for him. How can someone born with a disease not be eligible to play a sport represented by this disease?

“He said if he had gone through an academy and told them he wasn't a good enough player he would have been disappointed but he would have been able to understand that he had done everything and he didn't hadn't reached the level you're good enough, but a rule set by an independent body means there's no going back, there's no other system in the world that doesn't have another. channel available.

The news was understandably a blow, so Bryan Senior sought to cheer his son up by contacting England and Manchester City star Jack Grealish, who is a keen supporter of disability sport as his sister Hollie also suffers. of cerebral palsy.

Expecting nothing in response, Bryan Sr was delighted to receive a personalized video from Grealish to show his son last year.

“Keep your head up mate, keep playing football with a big smile on your face,” Grealish said in a touching minute-long video. “We all have setbacks in life and stuff we don't want to hear, but that's how you react to it. I've had a lot of that in my time.

“Keep up the hard work, buddy, keep your head up.” I know how much you love football and also the work you do to raise awareness about cerebral palsy and disabilities in football, so keep it up. I'm proud of you; keep playing, never give up on your dreams and never stop playing football.”

The video was a huge boost for Bryan Jr, now 17, and over the past year he has followed Grealish's advice by starting his coaching badges in a bid to help the next generation of para-footballers. He has been attending Partington-based club CP United for years and still makes the three-and-a-half hour round trip from South Yorkshire to train with them – but since the classification decision he can no longer play with them in any competitive match. .

Dad Bryan said: “As much as I know he wants to play, I hope his experience and background can maybe help the next generation and prevent something like this from happening to anyone else .It's similar to how Jack reached out to him and gave him this support.

“To see how interested Jack was in Bryan's story over the years and to recognize some of the work Bryan did, it was more than just saying 'unlucky,' there was a personal touch. Ironically, We're both huge Manchester United fans, but Jack is one of those players like Gazza that everyone wanted to be on the playing field. He's this generation's version of that even though he plays for them. blue team, every time Jack is on the field, Bryan is invested.

“When we heard Jack hadn't made the England squad this summer, we remembered the video he sent. It was desperately needed at the time. Let Jack one day know the impact a one minute video will have, it certainly helped When we found out that Jack wasn't in the Euro squad this year it reminded us and highlighted how good he is. a good person.