In the UK, walking football has taken off since it was first introduced to people with Parkinson’s from around the UK at Watford Football Club training ground in May 2021; now there are at least 25 Parkinson’s teams in England and Wales, and the sport is growing in Scotland too.
However, while European countries often enter national teams with Parkinson’s to play walking football in tournaments such as the Ray Kennedy Cup and the UK’s Cure Parkinson’s Cup, there aren’t many teams playing the sport on a regular basis in mainland Europe – but the ASPARBI team of walking footballers with Parkinson’s in the Basque Country is one of the first. It was set up just over six months ago by Jesus Etxebarria, president of the Basque Country Walking Football Association.
Jesus, 69, also plays walking football and although he does not have Parkinson’s, he was keen to get people with the condition playing it. To drum up interest, he showed members of ASPARBI, the local Biscay Parkinson’s Association, a video of Joe Gregory, an English walking footballer with Parkinson’s who plays for England, Fighting Fit Football, and Berks and Bucks Neuro walking football group, doing keepy-uppies. Joe is famous for doing a record number of these during various challenges. Jesus then encouraged the members of the Association to give walking football a go and was pleased by the turnout for the first Parkinson’s walking football session.
“Something like 13 people appeared. Three of them were women, for which I was glad because I did make it clear that it was mixed gender. And it was great. None of the three women and quite a few of the men had never played football. Amazing.”
“Some of them had played football at quite a high level. There was one who told me that this would open a window in his life that he thought was closed forever. Wow, I was choked up when he embraced me and said that to me because I love the sport so much. I didn’t think people who had not played football would sign up for it. And they did.”
Now the ASPARBI team is made up of around 16 people with Parkinson’s ranging from 50 to 75 years old, who play a six-a-side game of walking football every Friday. “Someone may have had a rough night or someone’s not feeling well, but you know, they’ll still come just to watch their colleagues,” says Jesus.
Playing walking football appears to have had a beneficial effect on the team members’ Parkinson’s symptoms, improving balance in particular. “When we first began this project, it was a bit frightening to see them falling and tripping over all the time, losing their balance and, you know, hitting the floor. And now that doesn’t happen,” says Jesus.
Jesus also says that many who had a problem walking backwards at the beginning have now overcome that issue.
Another important bonus is the social side. Jesus says that although the ASPARBI footballers may have previously known each other by sight, they had never spoken to each other. But walking football has changed that. “They have become like brothers and sisters these people. It’s amazing,” says Jesus.
Now the ASPARBI team is going from strength to strength. Just four months after starting out, on World Parkinson’s Day this year they played the England walking football Parkinson’s team, who travelled to Berango in the Basque Country specially.
The ASPARBI team also recently entered the first-ever local Biscay Football Federation’s mixed-age and gender, non-Parkinson’s, league and cup walking football tournament and reached the cup semi-finals, coming a respectable fourth out of six teams.
The ASPARBI team will also take part in the Parkinson’s walking football and traditional football event the Ray Kennedy Cup, which will be held in Norway in September.
Three of the ASPARBI players were picked to play with the Basque Country’s over-50s (non-Parkinson’s) team at a tournament in Biscay in early June, against England and France’s non-Parkinson’s national teams.
Furthermore, three members of the over-50s and one of the over-60s ASPARBI team, are likely to be selected for the Basque Country national squads to take part in July’s Challenge Christian Poirier Walking Football international tournament in France. They will play against national teams from France, England, Wales, Republic of Ireland, Jersey, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Morocco and the Caribbean.
“I’m not picking them because they have Parkinson’s disease, I’m picking them because they are good footballers,” says Jesus.
Find out more about walking football on our Parkinson’s Sports & Exercise Hub, and download our FREE guide to overcoming barriers to exercise in Parkinson’s.
