Telford College (TCAT) – Mars Just Play
Time: 12pm to 1pm
Date: Every Wednesday Lunch
Venue: Telford College 3G Football Dome
Target: Foundation and disability students
Content of session: TCAT Mars Just Play sessions are taken right back to basics and gives the students control of what they want to do within the session. Students get to pick from a wide range of activities which include; 1 man Wembley,2 man Wembley, 3v3, 5v5, 7v7, shooting games, passing games, heads and volleys, Football Cricket and Football Tennis. The dome is split in to 2 or 3 areas depending on numbers with a different activity going on in each area, students can come and go as they please.
Who runs the session: Lewis Taylor (CCFC), Ian Preece (Foundation Teacher) and Student
Management Team (SMT) Young Volunteers?
How we market Mars Just Play: At TCAT we work very closely with foundation studies and
Sportability and have access to a wide range of students either with a physical disability or learning difficulties the ages of the students range from 15 yrs up. Normally 2 weeks before a Mars Just play session starts myself and the SMT target foundation tutor groups, Life Skill courses and Sportability and hold small focus sessions on what they would like to get out of the sessions and best times to hold them. We then advertise via flyers and email and also word of month. Then the following week we hold what is called a Mars Sign Up which is a portable class room (20 x Laptops) in the main social area of the college during breaks to allow students to access the online registration with support from us. That allows us to support them as sometime using computers can be a challenge.
Challenges we faced:
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Students not able to get their without support
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Peer groups
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Coaches unable to deal with certain disabilities
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New coaches with the right qualifications (Disability Football)
Promotional materials: We received flyers, posters, postcards, free kit, Mars Bars, portable goals, bus pass wallets and pens to help promote Mars Just Play. Students receive a pen and wallet once they have enrolled on MJP.
We currently have 18 on the list and are registered Mars Just Play users but I feel more than confidant we will reach 30

Exit Routes: We see the exit rout as a must for the Mars Just Play as it will allow players to play more regularly and also meet the needs of individuals
Route A: Direct link into TEAM 19 – we sandwich Team 19 in between Mars Just Play as it gives the players that competition on a regular basis if they want and for a lot of them they would never have played a match. We do 2 weeks on 1 week off MARS 2 weeks/TEAM19 1 week
Route B: Direct Link to Club 3000 – which is a multi sports clubs which also run a football team (Not in a league) and we support players with attending theses sessions and playing regularly.
Route C: We have a few clubs charter standard clubs who are called priority clubs that we work with like Telford Juniors FC and Madeley Sports FC these are all disability football clubs in the Telford area which we work with finding new players and coaches.
Route D: AFC TELFORD UNITED FC Powered wheel chair football team we support them with players and coaches.
Possible other exit routes: Football Mash Up
Other Mars Just Play sessions we run:
Tuesday 12-1pm – 11 females/107 males
Wednesday 12-1pm – 17 males/ 1 female
Friday 9-10pm – 22 males