A HAMPSHIRE mum says football has helped her autistic daughter.

Zoe Williams and her husband Andy felt that playing a team sport might be what Daisy, now eight, needed to help her integrate socially and improve her focus.

Daisy’s older sister Poppy already played for local team Pace Wildcats, which Andy manages, and last season Daisy joined Pace Lionesses.

And after a bumpy start, Daisy is now showing huge improvements both on and off the pitch.

“We wanted her to do a team sport. She’s not very good at reading social cues and interacting,” says Zoe, a vet from Totton.

“This forces her to interact with other girls.”

Daisy joined PACE Lionesses in summer 2016. Her first season didn’t go particularly well.

“I really wanted her to play to make her communicate, interact and be part of a team, but her autism and her age made this a real challenge,” says Zoe.

“As a summer holiday baby, Daisy was one of the youngest in the team, so a lot of the players were much older and more experienced. Daisy was one of the weakest links and she knew it.

“Her focus didn’t improve and she would chew on her hair or nails or stare into space while the game was literally going on around her.”

However, as more girls have joined the team, it has now been split, and a new development team has been created, where Daisy is excelling.

“She is a completely different player this season,” says Zoe. “You couldn’t have missed the fact that she had autism before. Now, the team is more at her level, and she’s much more switched on.”

And local non-profit social enterprise PBS4, which supports people with learning difficulties and challenging behaviour to live in their own tenancies and avoid home breakdown, were so impressed with Pace Youth Football Club’s support of Daisy that they decided to sponsor the Lionesses’ away kit, joining Leeds Building Society, who sponsor the home kit.

“The main difference this season is that she feels valued and needed.

“At the start of the season, I told the manager, Jack Oughton, never to play her for more than ten minutes, as that was her focus limit. But there have been times when the team has had no subs, and she’s been able to focus for entire games.

“Football wise, it’s like Daisy is a whole different person.

“Outside of football, her ability to concentrate on schoolwork has also improved. We are seeing fewer meltdowns and she’s able to get on with her homework.”

“We have always been proactive with Daisy, for instance, making sure she gets into social situations as otherwise she would never see anyone.

“Autism in girls presents very differently to in boys. While you can get ‘bad’ behaviour in boys, girls tend to be seen as ‘dizzy’ or ‘having their heads in the clouds’.

“I’d say to any parents, if you are suspicious that your child is autistic, to be proactive.

“Daisy doesn’t need medication. She needs support and help in some aspects of her life. She’s a perfectly normal little girl, otherwise.”

l Pace Youth Football Club will soon be launching a pan-disability team. For more information, visit www.pacefc.co.uk