Participants at Derby County Community Trust’s DS Active programme were surprised by Derby County youngsters Jason Knight and Louie Sibley at their latest training session last week.
The session runs weekly and supports participants of any age with Down’s Syndrome and their families to take part in physical activity, as well as competing against other clubs.
The promising duo, who have both made their first-team debuts for Derby during the 2019/20 campaign, joined in all aspects of the training, from drills to match play, and took time to meet all the participants and their families.
Stuart Asquith, Inclusion Officer at Derby County Community Trust, said: “The participants we have down here are all huge Derby County fans, most of them season ticket holders, so the chance to meet the players is brilliant for them.
“They were a bit nervous to begin with as they often are when they get to meet their idols, they were the same last year when Martyn Waghorn and Jack Marriott came down, but within five minutes they were trying to get them out of the warm up game!”
DS Active is a national movement designed to support those with Down’s Syndrome to take part in physical activity and currently works with over 1,000 people through its community network in which Derby County Community Trust operates, along with many other football clubs.
Players are welcome to turn up and join in at the weekly session which runs at Belper Leisure Centre from 5pm-6pm on Fridays. For more information, as well as visiting derbycountycommunitytrust.com, please contact stuart.asquith@dcct.co.uk or call the Community Trust on 01332 416140.