Introducing the diabetes football community (TDFC)
Paul Coker & Chris Bright Talk About The Diabetes Football Community
Today I’m really excited. I’m here with Chris Bright, a semiprofessional football player and a futsal player with caps for Wales who also happens to have type 1 diabetes. In this video we’re going to be talking about how Chris has gotten involved in running the Diabetes Football Community and what that means to him.
Chris, tell us a little bit about your history of diabetes and how you got involved in football and futsal, and tell us a little bit about what futsal is.
Yeah, yeah, so I was diagnosed as an eight-year-old in 1999, lived with the condition now for 18 years. From I guess an early I kind of thought there was a gap in terms of the support I’ve had in tackling football. It feels for me that there’s a bit of a void between we’re legally classed as having a disability and yet when it comes to playing sport, we’re in a mainstream bracket, which doesn’t quite feel … I don’t know … quite right to me. So this is for me a large part of what I’ve gone on to do now, so this is from an early stage an ideology that I’d had. Growing up, I’d sort of played for my county teams, for my district teams at football. Captained those, captained school teams, then got to an age at around 16, 17, I had a couple of trials for professional football clubs.
On those days I think diabetes probably let me down with emotions running quite high. But never quite made it to the very top in terms of football, but always had a positive outlook on the condition. Then went on to sort of as I’d left school, then went on to play for the county team, again under-18s, for Worcestershire, and then gone to play for the university’s first team when I went to University of Worcestershire. And then having a semiprofessional football career around the day job and around diabetes, and around … but once I’d left the university, felt very lucky to have done that.
I guess, for the way I played football, I’d always wanted to play futsal, which is the FIFA-registered and recognised version of five-a-side football, which I’ve been lucky enough to play at the highest level in England for my club, in terms of the divisions that I’ve set up. And then even more lucky to then go on and play for Wales through going through a number of training camps and getting, I suppose, to train at the very top, and then play against countries. Suffered a couple of injuries, but I feel quite privileged to have had the career I’ve had to this point, and I think there’s still some time to go.
So tell us a little bit about your Diabetes Football Community, because I know it’s a project that’s very close to your heart. So what is it and how can people can involved?
As I said, I feel passionate about the void there is between having type 1 diabetes and having the condition. From our government, we’re legally classed as disabled but we compete in mainstream sport, so I believe the community have set up the Diabetes Football Community, it’s that void in-between for us to seek guidance and support each other. It’s a community which I share my own experience on, and I encourage others to share theirs, so we’re all in it together and all trying to support one another. I feel passionately that we’re trying to empower each other to take the next steps and improve what we’re all doing.