About Us

My name is Stephanie McAllister and I am the founder and team manager of Team Colours UK. I originally set up the team, as I had attended competitions in the past as a member of a club and noticed that there were often people at these events who didn't belong to a club, either because they couldn't or didn't want to commit to weekly meet ups; or simply didn't have a club that suited them in their local area. So I wanted to create a rolling base team (we do not have a specific club house/venue to meet in, or hold weekly training), where people who would normally enter as an individual athlete; can be part of a fun and supportive team. The only expectations on each team member, is that they have good sportsmanship and a love for sports and fun. The most rewarding thing I have experienced since setting the team up, is watching our many junior athlete's go from being shy or defeated children, to confident, caring and enthusiastic members of the team, helping each other out; no matter what their disability is.

Due to the vast range of disabilities in our team, I have enjoyed the challenge of learning about them and adapting our methods in order for our athletes to thrive and become all that they can; but more than that, I feel it has made me a better team manager and coach and gained a lot personally, both in experience as their coach and as a competitive athlete myself. It has given me a broader knowledge of what adaptations have been thought of by more experienced coaches, but it has also drove me to find out about every single athlete on my team and work with them individually on different techniques and apparatus, that enable them to compete on a level playing field to the competitors in their classification or profile. In disabled sports, people are sorted in to classifications and profiles by a National guideline and this dictates what ability each athlete in that particular classification or profile; could and would hopefully be able to achieve and maintain and many have surpassed these guidelines and gone on to be very successful, both Regionally and Nationally. I myself still compete at Regional and National level and have even attended the British Open Athletics Championships in 2007 and got to experience competing against athletes from other countries and came away with a medal in each event I did. Two of our juniors have qualified to represent the South East at the National Junior Championships; although due to their GCSE's they could not take their place and compete. We do have one athlete, who has both a physical and mild learning disabilities who has represented Team Colours UK at the National DSE Mini Games in 2008 and was extremely successfully and placed in the top 3 in four events and top 5 in two of the team events. This event is covered on our news page.

Competing in the DSE Inter-club events, takes us to many different parts of the South and South East of England and over the last 3yrs, we have thoroughly enjoyed meeting new people and rekindling friendships from the previous seasons. Whilst we are competing, there are athletes who truly do just wish to participate because they enjoy the events and may not actually be that competitive; either by choice or purely because they do not have competitive personalities. For these people, participating is the biggest goal for them, as it takes a lot of motivation to get yourself up, out and fit to attend these events and their reward is often, respite from medical appointments and therapies and the typical mundane chores of life in a predominately able bodied community. Many people also find that whilst they are participating in sport, they do not actually feel the pain from their condition and do not feel disabled in any way because they are in an environment that is of an equal level to them. Others enjoy helping out fellow team members and also those who may be struggling from another team or club.

If you have a passion for sport, a love for fun and want to be part of a team with good sportsmanship; please contact us via the contact form or details at the bottom of the page.

Thank you,

Stephanie McAllister (Founder and Team Manager)