Maz's 1,000 mile mission to make football accessible for children with autism

NAS ambassador, Maz Ataie battled against the clock last weekend on an attempt to visit all 20 Premier League football stadiums – in just 36 waking hours.  

Maz embarked on his 1,000 mile mission to raise awareness of the difficulties that children with autism can face getting involved in grassroots football. He was inspired by his eight-year-old son Jake who has Asperger syndrome, and loves football.  

Joined by friends Ed Jones (34), Dave Leeks (34), and Chris Patson (38), Maz kicked off his sporting challenge at 8am on Friday morning at Loftus Road, home of QPR FC. After visiting three other London clubs, the team headed over to Swansea before racing off to the Midlands and the North East, ending the first day of the tour at St James’ Park in Newcastle.  

An early start on Saturday saw a visit to clubs in the North West, including visits to Old Trafford and Anfield. Throughout the tour, clubs donated items that Maz will auction off later this year for the NAS. Items that will be up for auction include a Manchester United shirt signed by England star Wayne Rooney and a football signed by the Chelsea team.  

Maz and his friends smashed their target by three hours, ending their tour at Tottenham Hotspur’s ground White Hart Lane, where they had a well-deserved VIP tour of the stadium.

Maz will be writing a blog story very soon with more details about how he got on!

Awareness raising with a twist!

I want to make a positive change, not just for Jake (my son who has Asperger syndrome), but for others who are affected by autism and Asperger syndrome.

I kick-started my fundraising with a trek in Snowdonia in August - but that's just the beginning. Jake is football-crazy, but the opportunities for him to get involved at a grass-roots level are woefully limited. So as part of next year's fundraising activities, we're going to visit each of the 20 Premiership football clubs in just two days.

I hope the stunt will show people how important it is that people with autism and Asperger syndrome have the opportunity to be included - after all, we are a sport-loving nation!
We're going to be asking for goodies from all the clubs and will auction them off at a special evening of music in the summer.

Being an Autism Action Network ambassador is about strength in numbers. I have heard about other ambassadors doing fantastic things, whether it's raising their concerns to their MP, talking to journalists or going on bonkers adventures like me. It's going to make a real difference and the momentum and passion in the network is just so inspiring.

Maz