From Jordan to Houston: Bloom takes inclusive football global

In July 2026, Bloom, a Jordanian non-profit using football to promote inclusion and personal development, travelled to Houston, Texas, to participate in the Genuine Cup. Held from 27 July to 1 August at Rice University, the tournament brought together more than 1,000 athletes representing 53 nations, creating a global platform for athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities and autism.

For Bloom, the journey represented an important step for inclusive football in Jordan. The team became the first from Jordan and West Asia to participate in the Genuine Cup, bringing together athletes with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and intellectual disability.

The experience also demonstrated that inclusion through sport is not only about creating opportunities to participate. It is about creating opportunities to compete, travel, represent a country, and experience belonging in spaces where people with disabilities are often underrepresented.

Competition as a tool for development

For many athletes, travelling to an international tournament involves much more than the matches themselves. Preparing for competition, travelling as a team, adapting to a new environment, and communicating with people from different countries all create opportunities to develop independence, confidence, and social skills.

This was particularly important for Bloom because its work is built around the idea that football can be a space where people play, grow, and belong. Competition adds another dimension to that work: athletes are not simply beneficiaries of an inclusion programme, but participants, teammates, and representatives of their country.

The Genuine Cup also provided an opportunity for Bloom’s coaches and staff to observe different approaches to inclusive football and connect with organisations working in the same field internationally. These exchanges can help local organisations bring new ideas back into their own programmes and strengthen the quality and sustainability of sport for development work.

From participation to representation

Bloom finished the tournament in sixth place, allowing the team to compete at a high level while representing Jordan on an international stage.

However, the value of the experience extended beyond the final result. The tournament created visibility for inclusive football in Jordan and demonstrated what can happen when athletes with disabilities are given access to structured training, competition, and international sporting experiences.

It also reinforced an important lesson for organisations working through sport: access to sport should not stop at participation. Inclusion should include access to development pathways, competition, leadership, travel, and opportunities to represent one's community.

Bringing the experience home

Bloom returned to Jordan with more than memories from Houston. The experience offered new connections, new perspectives, and a clearer understanding of what inclusive football can become in Jordan and the wider region.

For a young organisation, participating in an international tournament also creates an opportunity to reflect: What needs to change locally to make these opportunities more accessible? How can coaches and programmes be better equipped to support athletes with different abilities? And how can international exposure translate into sustainable opportunities at home?

These questions are central to Bloom's next phase of work.

The Genuine Cup showed that football can create a common space across countries, abilities and backgrounds. For Bloom, taking part was not simply about travelling to compete. It was about opening another door for athletes from Jordan, and bringing back lessons that can help open more doors at home.