Rainbow Roos win national award for helping children overcome barriers in sport

A WHIRLWIND 18 months has seen soccer coach Brad Ambridge become a driving force for change by helping children with mental and physical disabilities.

Ambridge is the director and head coach of Rainbow Roos, who won an award for Best Program for Young Voices & Futures at the Australian Disability Service Awards in Melbourne.

He started the not-for-profit soccer program at Lismore last year, with the focus on making the game fun, inclusive, and accessible to all children.

The program has been a game changer for kids who are usually excluded from sport due to disability, social barriers and financial hardship.

“To be recognised in the disability sector for the work we’re doing with kids is everything we could have dreamed of when we first kicked off,” Ambridge said.

“I thought from a sport perspective no one was looking after a lot of these kids who are neurodiverse or have a disability.

“If it takes four weeks to get them on the field, so be it, that’s the kind of thing we can work on little by little.”

Ambridge moved to the area for the UK about eight years ago and had aspirations of doing some coaching work, similar to what he had previously done.

Fate intervened when he was made redundant from his previous job, which allowed him to pour everything into the new venture.

He now has five coaches who run up to 25 sessions a week with about 500 kids expected to be part of summer holiday programs.

It is a cause close to his heart: he saw barriers he wanted to break after his son Grayson was formally diagnosed with autism and ADHD.

“I knew my son would never be able to join a traditional team. It’s too structured, too formalised,” he said.

“I wanted to create something fun-based, inclusive, and pressure-free, where kids could just be themselves.”

Rainbow Roos is growing rapidly, having expanded to Ballina and other parts of the region.

The parents have formed social connections with some kids heavily involved each week, while others grow and gain more confidence over time.

“Sessions might look a bit chaotic, but the most important thing is that kids leave with a smile,” Ambridge said.

“We’re not about trying to find the next David Beckham or Ronaldo. We’re here to create a good group of human beings who feel like they have a place in the world.”

The program offers BabyRoos (2–4 years), MiniRoos (5–10 years) and BigRoos (11–16 years), and is available for NDIS-funded groups, private sessions and holiday camps.