Parkinson’s Africa trustee Omotola Thomas (front, left) and Parkinson’s Africa CEO Tania Park (front, lying down) with winning team, Dream Boys

Last month, the very first Walking Football Parkinson’s Cup took place in Nigeria, Africa.

Organised by advocacy groups Parkinson’s Africa and Adewunmi Desalu Parkinson’s Disease, and supported by walking football organisation Waka Football Association Nigeria, the event on 24 June in the Nigerian city of Lagos was held to improve awareness about Parkinson’s.

More than 200 people attended the city’s Eagle Club to take part in the Walking Football Parkinson’s Cup tournament and to learn about the condition.

Parkinson’s Africa trustee Omotola Thomas kicked off the event, which started with a short demo and a walking football match by the Nigerian walking football national team.

The tournament then began – 12 teams took part, with round one’s successful teams going through to round two and whose winners proceeded to the finals.

During the event, men and women with Parkinson’s spoke about their experiences living with the condition.

There was also a walking football drill demonstrated by people with Parkinson’s. Four attackers represented symptoms (tremor, dyskinesia, constipation, apathy), while defenders (representing medication, clinical support, social and physical support, and nutrition) fought back, with the goalkeeper representing the human body. The drill demonstrated that with more attackers and fewer defenders, the greater stress the body is under and vice versa.

After 28 games had been played and 54 goals scored, the Dream Boys team strolled away with the Walking Football Parkinson’s Cup, with Sahara taking the runners-up prize, and Hope Boys securing the third place by beating the Bring Back Our Language (BBOL) squad.

The event was funded by the Vitol Foundation.