A TOURNAMENT with teams of disabled footballers will play in Maldon later this month.

The D4S Soccability World Cup 2018 will be running on June 23 to June 24 at the Plume Academy grounds on Fambridge Road, Maldon.

The event is organised by Disability4Sport, a Colchester-based initiative to help disabled people engage in various sports to improve physical and mental health.

On Saturday, June 23 from 11am to 4pm, there will be the adult leagues which include 3 divisions of premiership, championship and league 1.

On Sunday, June 24 from 11am to 2pm, there will be matches for the youth under 12s and under 16s league as well as the adult fun league.

Abigail Saxon, director of Disability4Sport said: “We are really excited about this year’s Soccability world cup tournament which will see teams from across England and even a team from Wales.

“It’s set to be a fantastic couple of days of football in a world cup style atmosphere.

“Each team which enters will represent a world cup country for the day.

“It’s a pan-disability tournament. Most teams are mixed physical and mental disabilities.

“Then there are a few teams which are impairment specific for example teams with only deaf or Cerebral Palsy players.

“We are proud to be able to put on this event and give all these fantastic Soccability teams a chance to experience a world cup event.

“We hope to have a Paralympian come down to give out the certificates and trophies at the end of each day.

“We also hope to inspire the players to reach their goals within sport as well as personally.

According to Ms Saxon, the event was only possible due to her late grandfather’s donation to the charity which helped kickstart the annual tournament.

Ms Saxon hopes to keep running it yearly in her grandfather’s memory as he was a big sports fan.

She also thanks Maldon district council's football development officer Simon Walker for securing the venue.

Money raised from the weekend will go to funding the next tournament and support the work of Disability4Sport.

This tournament will be the third one they have run with previous events in 2014 and 2016.

For more details, email abigail@disability4sport.co.uk, visit www.disability4sport.co.uk or call 01206 512595.