A stadium full of screaming supporters is not an attractive place for those with autism. KRC Genk launched a low-stimulus grandstand where highly sensitive children and young people can attend the match. “Now I can tell tomorrow at school that I went to football.”
“But what does that actually mean daddy, 1-1?” asks Bently (7) when defender Carlos Cuesta kicks in the equalizer in the twenty-fifth minute before Genk. “That we’re back in the game, boy,” says his father, who had jumped up enthusiastically following the goal, but now puts his arm around his son’s shoulders.
Bently has autism and stays during the week at Kids vzw in Hasselt. “In the weekends we try to have as much quality time together as possible,” says Bjorn Renders from Tessenderlo. “Bently started playing football in his community in September. I myself am a loyal Genk supporter, but it is the first time that I go to football with my son. This is really enjoyable for both of us.”
KRC Genk launched a low-stimulus grandstand in their arena on Sunday before the arrival of national champion Club Brugge, where 31 supporters with autism or high sensitivity might attend the match in a secluded grandstand behind glass. For whom the cheering of the supporters was still too loud, noise-reducing headphones were also distributed.
Highly sensitive young people are invited through organizations for the next five competitions. The club is still looking for a formula to make the low-stimulus grandstand structural. “Genk is a team of the people. We want to give everyone the chance to come and watch our matches in order to become the most inclusive stadium in Belgium,” says general manager Eric Gerits.
KRC Genk got the mustard for grandstand G in England, where clubs such as Manchester City and Arsenal already have special areas for children with high sensitivity.
Streamers on the field
In terms of inclusive football experience, the Limburg club is not ready for its test piece. The stadium has had facilities for many years for home and away supporters in wheelchairs to experience the match. In 2012, the club started with adapted live match coverage for blind and visually impaired people who can still experience the match with the help of headphones.
“It is very difficult for us to go to regular events,” says Bjorn Renders, who assembles bicycles in a sheltered workshop. “If Bently is too busy, he can get very loud. Then flutters him a lot too. Bystanders often have a hard time with that. In the past year we have already been evicted from a chip shop, but also from a playground. That makes me angry, but it also hurts when I see my child being laughed at. So you get scared to do something together.”
Social nurse Evi Hansen (46) from Hasselt came to the match once morest Bruges with her sons Juul (11) and Louie (7). “My kids love football. The youngest plays in the regular youth competition, at RC Hades, but that doesn’t work for the oldest. We tried, but then I had to stand next to the coach, so to speak, to keep him calm.”
Juul and Louie, like most of the children in grandstand G, have never been to a first division match. There was a lot of tension with the boys beforehand. When they see streamers on the field just before the game that the supporters have thrown, Juul is worried. “They have to remove those ribbons!” he yells. “Soon the match cannot continue, because the players will fall.”
Radiant faces
But ninety minutes are a long time, even when a match is exciting. The children especially straighten up when their parents do. It’s mainly regarding the experience: the first time in the stadium, waving the flags and the scarves they found on their seats. “They enjoy it, but in their own way,” says Hansen.
She also tries to take her children to ‘ordinary’ events as much as possible. “It’s not because they have autism that I have to put them in a glass cage. But that’s not simple. They wouldn’t last fifteen minutes in the regular grandstand. Louie gets angry when people stare at him. Juul then takes it a step further: he starts speaking in a strange voice, or waving his arms because he thinks that is socially desirable behavior.”
The boys both go to regular education. “It works, but it is hard for the teachers. That’s why they asked us not to come to following-school care anymore. When the boys get overstimulated, they are very busy and sometimes unmanageable. As a mother of two boys with autism, I am in favor of an inclusive society, but sometimes you have to dare to admit that their own place is better for them.”
During the second half, the children are more at ease. Bently, who remained close to his dad during the first 45 minutes, is also pressed once morest the window in the second half. “It was beautiful daddy,” he says followingwards. “And I did see the last two goals!”
The radiant children’s faces are not only related to Genk’s victory. “Now I can also tell tomorrow at school that I went to football,” says Louie.
