Joel Rothery Strikeforce fund

My name is Joel, I’m 15 and I was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy at the age of 4. This means that my muscles aren’t as strong as other people’s and I need a wheelchair to travel anything but a very short distance.

My first training session with Hull and East Yorkshire Powerchair Football Club was when I was 11 and my friend invited me. I’ve been hooked ever since! I really enjoy participating in a team sport as this was something that I had always wanted to do and never had the chance to do before.

Power chair football is a game played with a 16 inch football that is passed about using a bumper; it is a four aside game. There is no offside rule, instead there is a two on one rule which means that two players cannot tackle one player. When I first started playing I wasn’t very confident playing older players, however the coaches at Hull and East Yorkshire PFC were really encouraging and helped me to improve a lot. One of the highlight for my team was winning the development team Yorkshire league in 2016.

This season, much to my delight, I was placed into the first team as the coaches believed I had progressed enough. And now this is where you come in :) It would be greatly appreciated if you could help me buy a faster, leaner, meaner machine. My current wheelchair is a Storm which the club lend to me. It is old and slow which puts me at a disadvantage as I cannot keep up with other players, as most players in the national league use a Strikeforce. Therefore I am beginning to raise funds to purchase my own Strikeforce. I would really appreciate anything you could give to help me achieve my aim of assisting Hull and East Yorkshire PFC to succeed in the national league. Thank you!