At HappyFeet we are big believers in making our programs inclusive to everyone.  That is why we are incredibly proud to now offer programming specially designed for children on the autism spectrum. Our coaching staff have been hard at work creating and developing this program for the last year and we are very excited to open it up to all of our families.  Our active sessions are designed to develop cognitive and motor skills through individualized, small group and team games.

 

We will deliver a specialized program that will cater to your child's imagination. Centred around our soccer ball, "Bob the Bobcat". With a curriculum built around songs, stories and adventures, these classes will leverage creative play and the important developmental skills it provides to make soccer the best time of the week!

​

Our unique approach will provide the ideal environment for your little soccer stars to explore body movement, express themselves creatively, learn to work well in small groups, and develop their emotional and social skills.

​

Our coach to player ratio will be 1:4. We kindly ask that should your soccer star require 1:1 support that a parent or BI participates alongside them. When booking please let us know as much as possible about your little one so that we can tailor the sessions to ensure that we give your player the best chance to succeed with our program.

​

The classes will take place every Sunday at Charleson Park  from April 16th - June 25th. There will be no classes on May 21st due to the long weekend. There will be 10 sessions in total. Classes are open for children aged between 3-7. 

​

​

 

MEET THE COACH

 

Aaron Houlihan is originally from Ireland where he obtained his BSc in Adapted Physical Activity. He has been working with neuro-diverse children for over ten years now across multiple professional settings and is extremely passionate about providing programming that is inclusive to all. Having heard many leaders state "it is hard for non-neurotypical children to get involved" he asked himself why? He quickly learned that is not hard for these children to be involved, it is more importantly a case of providing opportunities for these children to participate in programs which meets their learning needs. Having worked in various residential and sports team settings, Aaron moved to Vancouver three years ago and began working for the school board as a Student Support Worker for children with differing abilities. Aaron began working with HappyFeet in 2020 and has been a key driver in our goal to create a program that serves all of the families in our community. Using realistic goal setting and guided discovery we want to see children of all ages flourish.