Local football club Harrogate Gateway have a brand-new playing kit thanks to a recent sponsorship deal with Yorkshire Care Equipment.
The club’s new kit will see them battle it out for one of the top spots in the West Riding Ability Counts League and will be worn primarily by their first team, with the Yorkshire Care Equipment logo proudly displayed on the fronts of the shirts.
Having formed in 1995, Harrogate Gateway is for adults with learning disabilities and has over 40 players across three teams. The team plays once a month in locations all over Yorkshire, and currently operates under the Harrogate and District Mencap Society.
Yorkshire Care Equipment’s retail advisor, Gary Hornsby-Shawe, said:
“I’ve coached local junior teams before and volunteered at disability football tournaments, so I know how special it is for a team to get a new kit. I thought it would be a great idea for Yorkshire Care to provide Harrogate Gateway’s new kit because of all the work we do with disability equipment and such. Plus, it’s a wonderful way to give back to our community and support our local team!”
Harrogate Gateway also hosts its own disability football tournament every July. They have had over 80 teams take part in the past from all over the United Kingdom, and it has become one of the largest disability football events in the country.
Mark Summers, manager at Harrogate Gateway, said:
“Harrogate Gateway FC is dedicated to the development and provision of football from disabled people in the Harrogate area. We want to encourage participation regardless of ability levels and we want to provide an opportunity for everyone to play at a level that suits them.
“We debuted the new kit provided by Yorkshire Care Equipment a couple of weeks back at a game in Halifax – it looked very smart! The players were thrilled to bits and it certainly seemed to up their game.”
The club is run by a small group of enthusiastic volunteers, and they hold training sessions every Tuesday at St Aidan’s High School on Oatlands Drive. The club regularly has players called up to play for regional and national teams, with two of their squad travelling to Switzerland last year to represent the Mencap National Squad in the European Championships.
