England tournament action for Albion disability players
A trio of BHAFC Foundation disability footballers have recently been called upon to represent England in international tournaments.
Tate Willis and Rebecca Legon, who are both currently part of the BHAFC Foundation disability football programme, were called up to represent England Women at the inaugural Women’s Amputee World Cup.
Rebecca and Tate travelled with England to Colombia, where Tate captained the side through a 6-0 win over Peru in their first ever World Cup game.
Tate, just 18 years old and already an England international, has been involved with the Foundation for years and even won the BHAFC Foundation Award in 2018.
The Lionesses finished the World Cup in 5th, winning both of their 5th place playoff games after narrowly losing 2-1 on penalties to USA in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, former player and current Foundation coach Jake Heasman was part of the England squad that took part in the 2024 IBSA Partially Sighted European Championship in Turkiye.
Jake was in the starting lineup as England convincingly beat hosts Turkiye 5-1 to secure a 3rd place finish at the tournament.
Having played at Foundation sessions for many years, Jake recently made the transition from player to coach.
Phil Broom, Disability Lead at the BHAFC Foundation, was proud to see his players represent the Albion on the international stage.
“We’re all so proud to see our players pull on the England shirt,” Phil said.
“Tate and Rebecca have made history by being a part of the first ever Women’s Amputee World Cup, and Jake has continued to be a key parted of the partially sighted squad.
“They all did themselves proud and represented the Albion really well.”