Building Pan-Disability Football: Val de France Football Academy 77
Building Pan-Disability Football: Val de France Football Academy 77
Pan-Disability football is one of the most inclusive formats of the game, bringing together players with physical, sensory, and intellectual disabilities in the same environment. Instead of separating participants by impairment, it focuses on adapting the game so everyone can take part, build confidence, and feel part of a shared community. More than just sport, it creates belonging, breaks isolation, and can open pathways to further opportunities in football.
Since its launch in September, the inclusive section of Val de France Football Academy 77 has been fully committed to developing this pan disability approach. Led by coach Gaëtan Lethuaut, the initiative brings together players with different types of disabilities under one shared passion, the love of the game.
A Project Rooted in Inclusion
The academy collaborates with medical social institutions such as IMEs, SESSADs, day care centers, and residential facilities to offer para football opportunities. The goal goes far beyond competition. Football becomes a vehicle to promote physical activity, autonomy, and social interaction.
“Here, we have all the ingredients to welcome everyone equally,” explains Gaëtan Lethuaut.
With around 30 licensed players already involved, the program is growing steadily. The academy is affiliated with major organizations such as the Fédération Française de Football, the Fédération Française du Sport Adapté, and the Fédération Française Handisport, and also works alongside Special Olympics France.
Breaking Barriers Through Football
What makes this initiative unique is its philosophy: no separation during training. All players train together, regardless of their disability.
For Lethuaut, mixing different disabilities is itself part of the academy’s philosophy. Bringing players with different disabilities together in the same training environment creates something that goes beyond sport. It builds mutual understanding and breaks down barriers that exist not only between disabled and non disabled people, but sometimes even within the disability community itself.
Within the section, players come from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. Through partnerships with medical social institutions, many participants have intellectual disabilities, most commonly cognitive impairments, autism, or Down syndrome. At the same time, the handisport side of the program welcomes players with physical or sensory disabilities, including visual impairments, deafness, cerebral palsy, and mobility impairments.
“Each disability is different, so we adapt our methods,” Lethuaut explains. “But one thing is universal: the passion for football. Everyone deserves to experience it fully.”
This approach fosters mutual understanding and breaks down invisible walls. While competitions are structured by categories, such as futsal for physical disabilities, cerebral palsy football, and adapted football for intellectual disabilities, the training environment remains fully inclusive.
More Than Sport: Building Confidence and Community
The benefits extend beyond physical health. The program also addresses mental well being, helping players build confidence, friendships, and a sense of belonging.
“It fights isolation, creates friendships, and builds memories,” Lethuaut explains. “Now, we want to go even further by creating more connections with other members of the club, children, youth, and adults. Sharing moments together is the next step, and we’ll get there.”
The academy is also looking ahead, with plans to expand its offerings to include Cecifoot, further strengthening its inclusive mission.
The Players’ Perspective
For players like Adam, who lives with dysphasia and cerebral palsy, the experience is transformative.
“What I love here is living together despite all our differences,” he says. “We are all driven by the love of football, that’s what brings us together and unites us.”
Inclusion is not just a concept, it is something players feel every day. “It’s thanks to the coaches, who adapt the sessions really well despite our different disabilities.”
The sense of team spirit is also central. “One of my favorite moments is before training, in the locker room. We laugh together, tease each other, like we’ve known each other for 10 years.”
And for those who might hesitate to join, Adam’s message is simple:
“Just come as you are. Everyone is welcome, no matter your disability or your difference.”
A Vision for the Future
The inclusive section of Val de France Football Academy 77 is still at an early stage, but its vision is already clear: create a space where everyone belongs, grows, and thrives through football.
“There is no such thing as an ordinary environment,” Lethuaut concludes. “There are only extraordinary people.”
Through its actions, the academy is proving that inclusion is not just an idea, it is something that can be lived, shared, and celebrated every single day on the pitch.
Contact Val de France Football Academy 77
Instagram: vffa77_section_inclusive
