{"id":313643,"date":"2024-06-11T16:38:24","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T21:38:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=313643"},"modified":"2024-06-10T17:09:32","modified_gmt":"2024-06-10T22:09:32","slug":"uk-rugby-team-lifeline-down-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-rugby-team-lifeline-down-syndrome\/","title":{"rendered":"UK rugby team offers \u2018lifeline\u2019 for children with Down syndrome"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p class=\"Body\">Parents of children with Down syndrome often face challenges in finding activities for their kids. That\u2019s why a rugby team in Leicester, United Kingdom has become a lifeline for families struggling with a lack of opportunities, according to <span class=\"Hyperlink0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/society\/article\/2024\/jun\/05\/joy-and-laughter-the-leicester-rugby-team-for-children-with-downs-syndrome\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Guardian<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">In October 2023, the Leicester Tigers started their first-ever Down syndrome rugby team. During the course of the season, they welcomed over 40 families. The October 21 launch date had <span class=\"Hyperlink0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.leicestertigers.com\/community\/foundation\/down-syndrome-rugby\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">special significance<\/a> <\/span>\u2014 October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month and 21 is meant to signify Chromosome 21, of which those with Down syndrome have three copies (trisomy).<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">The team is run through the Leicester Tigers Foundation, a charity that <span class=\"Hyperlink0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c900qy57qveo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">aims<\/a><\/span> to support the local community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">Kelly Towl, whose eight-year-old daughter Lucie-Ann attends the training sessions, praised the initiative for its positive impact.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">\u201cThere aren\u2019t many sports aimed solely at children with Down syndrome, so for that to actually happen is positive,\u201d Towl said. \u201cYour children are not judged, we are not judged. We are all in the same boat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">Judy Lindsay-Timmins, mother to 17-year-old Louis, beamed about the team\u2019s role in fostering her son\u2019s confidence, ability to communicate, and concentration. They travel an hour each way due to a lack of local opportunities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ:<\/strong> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/texas-grandmother-bouquet-grandbabies-month-apart\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Viral video: Texas grandmother holds \u2018bouquet\u2019 of grandbabies born a month apart<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">\u201cLouis is very active, loves being outside and being given the opportunity to join sports the same as anyone else,\u201d she said. \u201cHe feels as if he\u2019s a member of a team. A family group\u2026 because instead of being on the sidelines, he\u2019s embraced, he\u2019s part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">The scarcity of activities for kids with Down syndrome motivated coach Megan Kirby to create the team. Kirby, an education officer at Leicester Tigers Foundation, has seen significant changes in children who joined the team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">\u201cIt\u2019s something that I can actually get quite emotional speaking about,\u201d she said. \u201cSome of the families, they\u2019ve never met any other children with Down syndrome before, so they just feel like they\u2019re accepted\u2026it\u2019s just happiness and joy when we are there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">Encouraging other sports teams to follow suit, Kirby added, \u201cCome to one of our sessions, see how much joy and laughter its going to bring to your own life and their lives and go for it. There\u2019s not one negative in it at all, it\u2019s just all positive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">When given the opportunity, children with Down syndrome achieve remarkable success, including in sports. In 2020, Chris Nikic <span class=\"Hyperlink0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/inspiring-person-down-syndrome-ironman-triathlon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">made history<\/a><\/span> by becoming the first person with Down syndrome to complete an Ironman triathlon. Nikic became an inspiration for many, <span class=\"Hyperlink0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-teen-triathlon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mentoring<\/a><\/span> a 14-year-old named Caleb Prewitt, who went on to become the youngest person with Down syndrome to run a mini-triathlon. He later received an invitation to participate in the Florida Special Olympics triathlon team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">These achievements highlight the incredible potential of children with Down syndrome when they are supported and encouraged.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/actnow.io\/ARQQhk1\"><b><i>The DOJ put a pro-life grandmother in jail for protesting the killing of preborn children. Please take 30-seconds to TELL CONGRESS: STOP THE DOJ FROM TARGETING PRO-LIFE AMERICANS.<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Parents of children with Down syndrome often face challenges in finding activities for their kids. That\u2019s why a rugby team in Leicester, United Kingdom has become a lifeline for families struggling with a lack of opportunities, according to The Guardian. In October 2023, the Leicester Tigers started their first-ever Down syndrome rugby team. During the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":809,"featured_media":313644,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[9455,3473],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>UK rugby team offers \u2018lifeline\u2019 for children with Down syndrome<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A rugby team in Leicester, United Kingdom has become a lifeline for Down syndrome families struggling with a lack of opportunities.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-rugby-team-lifeline-down-syndrome\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK rugby team offers \u2018lifeline\u2019 for children with Down syndrome\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A rugby team in Leicester, United Kingdom has become a lifeline for Down syndrome families struggling with a lack of opportunities.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-rugby-team-lifeline-down-syndrome\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-11T21:38:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-10T22:09:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Down-syndrome-14.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" 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