Earlier this year, Maidstone resident Adam McEvoy was honoured with a BEM in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List of 2021 for his services to Disabled and Young People through Sport.
Adam McEvoy has been a pioneer in the progression and development of wheelchair football across the country not only holding the position of National Development Manager for the Wheelchair Football Association (WFA) and Sports Department Director at the European Powerchair Football but also establishing four new clubs in the South East of England including Sevenoaks Powerchair FC of which he is manager.
CommunityAd caught up with Adam to find out more about his wonderful contribution to sport…
Can you inform readers of your own background in sport and how you went down the journey of coaching and managing in the sport of wheelchair football?
I was a team sports player all throughout my youth, primarily football, through to adult football. It was in my late teens that I got involved in coaching, initially working with my local senior women’s team. At university I continued to take qualifications and coached players at a variety of ages. In my third year I undertook a Disability Sport module, which included a practical work placement as part of its requirements. Here I gained a new perspective on coaching, working with blind players at the West Bromwich Albion foundation, as well as gaining some experience in wheelchair basketball and other disability sports.
These experiences greatly helped me gain employment at a special needs school in Westerham, for students with physical disabilities. It is here where I was introduced to powerchair football through the school team. However, some of the players were close to leaving school and wanted to continue to play the game. Subsequently, the school team evolved into a community team to support its development and almost 10 years later Sevenoaks PFC are one of the best teams in the country, with a wide range of players aged from 10-30.
You have established four new clubs during your tenure, progressing and developing them to incredible standards. Was this always the aim and how were you able to push the sport and engage with locals to participate?
My first real role in the sport came as a southern regional officer for The Wheelchair Football Association, a charity and the lead organisation for developing the sport. Here my role was to increase participation levels throughout the south of England. Thankfully this 3-year project was successful nationwide. I was fortunate enough to support the development of 4 new clubs and establish the south east and south west regional leagues, providing an entry point of competition for many people.
We were able to work alongside different partners to support this, whether it was through footballing networks, sports organisations and disability organisations, collectively alongside many enthusiastic and committed parents, they all brought different elements to the table, meaning we established provision to provide more people with the chance to access our format of football.
How would you say the sport has progressed nationally and internationally?
The sport has progressed really well in a short space of time. Nationally, we have 40+ clubs and more than 400 players accessing regular provision. We’ve developed a really strong competition pathway with promotion and relegation across our regional and national league competitions. Our growing relationship with The FA has seen the establishment of a talent programme, aimed at supporting talented youngsters to fulfil England ambitions.
Most recently, powerchair football was shown on television for the first time, on BT Sport as part of the FA Disability Cup finals weekend, a huge forwards step in raising awareness of our sport and who we cater for. Internationally, the game is growing with new nations playing the game. Developments in South America are exciting, as well as European developments, with new countries such as Italy, Spain and Russia beginning their journey. England themselves are also current European Champions – winning our European Championships in 2019 – the first senior England team to win a major tournament since 1966.
What would you say have been your most rewarding and most successful experiences during your near 10-year experience in the sport?
Seeing the development and progress of my club, Sevenoaks PFC. On the pitch we’ve progressed from an average Championship club, to one of the best teams in the country, competing in our equivalent of the Premier League against teams such as West Brom, Aston Villa, Manchester United and Brighton. We won the Championship division in 2018, remaining unbeaten all season to secure promotion. I’ve also been fortunate to coach a player to represent England. Kyle Alexander represented the England powerchair side in 2017 at the powerchair World Cup, aged just 16, which was a fantastic achievement for him and great for myself and us as a club. Off the pitch, seeing the players develop into mature young men and women has also been a hugely rewarding for me. We now have university students and part time employees in society, aiming to live as full a life as possible alongside severe physical impairments, which is fantastic.
How did you feel when you were informed that you would be awarded with a BEM for services to Disabled and Young People through Sport?
I didn’t believe it to begin with! I received an email which I thought was spam! But because it was so unusual, I went back to it and re-read it two or three times again. I showed my wife who thought it was genuine and encouraged me to look into it. After checking things a little further I found it was genuine. I was completely shocked as you’d expect. I’m just doing something to give others the same chance and same enjoyment I got from playing sport, so to be recognised by others and rewarded for it is a little surreal, but I am very proud.
Having made such a brilliant impact on the sport, do you have a 5-10 year goal that you would like to hit in the sport?
Increasing participation is still a big driver in what The Wheelchair Football Association does, and whilst we’ll always be a minority sport due to its nature, we’re aiming for a minimum of one club per county (Kent has 2 clubs, Sevenoaks & Faversham Town), so regardless of where you live, you should have a club within a 30-minute journey.
After the achievement of featuring on BT Sport earlier this year, we would love to see the game reach more people and feature on television more often to raise awareness of our game and how talented our athletes are, annual cup finals are an absolute minimum for us. On a wider scale, working towards securing Paralympic status would be game changing for us, so that’s another big target we are trying to support the wider game to reach.
What do you enjoy most about living in Maidstone?
I like the access that Maidstone provides, whether it’s the ease to travel across county from a central starting point, to the amenities the county town provides, it’s a great town to be based in.