Ollie and Max, who attend Tranmere Rovers in the Community’s weekly Adult Disability Football session, travelled to Berlin recently to volunteer at the Special Olympics with their school, Claremount Specialist Sports College.
Ollie has been coming along to our disability sessions for eight years, coming through our junior sessions and moving up to our adult provision, and follows Rovers home and away with his dad. Max, Ollie’s friend from school, joined him at the session in 2019 and has come along ever since.
The pair demonstrated inclusive activities in Berlin, and were involved in several events around the German capital around the Special Olympics, the world's largest inclusive sports event where thousands of athletes with intellectual disabilities compete together.
On their return to our sessions, Max and Ollie sat down with us to talk about their experiences in Berlin.
“We helped out with the Special Olympics over two days with the three versus three basketball,” Max told us. “We had a really good time. I really enjoyed it, it was good for me and for the school as well and it was a good opportunity.
“I’ve been coming to the sessions since 2019 and I really enjoy them.”
“It was really good, I was really surprised how much I enjoyed it, like meeting all the different countries, getting out there and going to different places,” Ollie added. “I had a good time not only with the Olympics but meeting mates, we did a lot of sightseeing as well like Berlin town, I really had a good time.
“I’ve been coming for about seven or eight years and I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m slowly getting better, Faye (Premier League Primary Stars) has really helped me a lot, and I’d love to come for a few more years hopefully as I really enjoy it.”
Faye commented: "I'm extremely proud of Ollie and Max for promoting inclusivity at the Special Olympics. They are two people who have massively benefited from our sessions here and grown during their time with us, so it's great to see them going out and volunteering in Berlin."
If you’d like to find out more about our junior or adult disability football sessions, you can contact Faye by email at FayeJ@tranmererovers.co.uk.