For 16-year-old Teesside resident Mitchell Tinkler, son of ConocoPhillips employee Steven Tinkler, powerchair football has become more than just a sport; it’s been a path to belonging, achievement and joy.
Steven remembers the day Mitchell first tried powerchair football, a fast-paced sport that enables individuals with physical impairments to play football.
It was a rainy Sunday in 2019, and the Tinkler family had journeyed to a local club in Darlington to see if the sport would be a good fit for 10-year-old Mitchell, who was born with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a genetic disorder that causes progressive muscle weakness and degeneration.
“We sat in the car, thinking, 'What’s this going to be like?'” Steven recalled.
As Mitchell maneuvered around the court during the tryout, George Radcliffe, Darlington Powerchair Football Club co-founder and coach, analyzed his performance.
“He’s good,” George told Steven, recognizing Mitchell’s potential.
“You’ve only watched him for five minutes, George,” said Steven. “How can you tell he’s good?”
“He’s got great hand-eye coordination,” George said. “His timing is great. He can drive backwards. He’s going to be good. He’ll go on to do great things.”
That pivotal experience set things in motion, with the Tinklers discovering more than just a new sporting activity for Mitchell, whose declining mobility required him to start using a power wheelchair around age 10.
“From Mitchell’s first trial, three things stood out,” Steven said. “He really enjoyed it; he had a natural talent; and that this opportunity wasn’t just about football. The welcome we got from the Darlington team, the recognition, the camaraderie, all struck us that first day.”
'It's nice to know you are the same as everyone else'
During his first two seasons, Mitchell played for Darlington Powerchair Football Club, which competed in a regional league. He was the leading goal scorer in his first year and contributed to the team's regional championship win.
“It was a sign of things to come,” Steven said.
Mitchell with Jon Bolding, England Powerchair National Team captain and friend. The England National Team represents England in international powerchair football competitions.
In 2021, Mitchell achieved a new milestone when he got an opportunity to play for the Teesside Powerchair Football Club (PFC), helping the team qualify for a coveted spot in the Wheelchair Football Association’s National League, which consists of the Premiership and the Championship divisions. It was a tough couple of games, but they won, and Mitchell scored the winning goal that propelled Teesside PFC into the National League.
Mitchell continued playing with Darlington PFC for a couple more seasons before making the move to Teesside PFC, and along the way, the Tinkler family traveled to international powerchair football tournaments, including memorable trips to Bruges in Belgium, and Belfast in Northern Ireland. The experience in Bruges stood out, Steven said, for the hotel’s exceptional wheelchair access, and the event itself gave Mitchell invaluable opportunities to train and compete alongside some of the world’s top powerchair players.
In 2025, Mitchell reached the current pinnacle of his sporting journey, contributing to Teesside PFC's victory in the Premiership, the highest tier of the National League. His peers voted him Young Player of the Season, and he also received the Goal of the Season Award. He has recently been accepted on to the National Emerging Talent Program and has been invited to a training camp at Lilleshall, the historic home of English Football.
“I really enjoy powerchair football,” Mitchell said, “it’s great to play against other amazing players and beat them, and it’s nice to know that you’re the same as everyone else.”
Alongside his athletic achievements, Mitchell’s positive attitude and zest for life have made him a much loved and respected figure within the powerchair football community.
Mitchell (10) training at The National Emerging Talent Program in Lilleshall, England, U.K. The program identifies and nurtures elite powerchair football talent. Players learn about the Football Association’s key capabilities and skills quadrant: positioning, movement, techniques, timing, deception and scanning.
“He has a lot of friends in the sport,” said Mitchell’s mother, Kate. “It’s really nice to be part of a welcoming community that understands disability, where everybody gets it at an individual and a family level. It has done wonders for his self-confidence, and the acceptance of his disability, it’s great that he’s been given the opportunity to play a sport he loves and thrive at an elite level. Like when we were in Bruges, entering the hotel, which had over 50 accessible rooms, and instantly clicking with every new player or family member was an emotional experience and when sightseeing, we were never short of advice around the best accessible loos.”
Sharing Mitchell’s success with colleagues
At ConocoPhillips, Steven has been sharing Mitchell’s achievements with his Teesside Oil Terminal colleagues and also members of the employee resource group, A Better Life for Everyone Network (ABLE).
ABLE raises awareness and provides support, coaching, mentoring and networking opportunities for employees with disabilities, as well as employees with family members connected through disabilities.
Steven said ABLE gives him the opportunity to talk about Mitchell and be authentic at work.
“If I didn’t talk about Mitchell or I didn’t talk about my family or powerchair football,” he said, “it would be a part of my life that I wasn’t bringing to work.”
On ABLE’s social networking page, Steven shared a documentary on powerchair football, “3 in a Box: The Powerchair Documentary,” made by his 20-year-old daughter, Elliotte Tinkler, for her Media and Performance studies at the University of Salford.
Elliotte’s documentary powerfully highlights that powerchair football is not just a recreational activity, but a highly competitive sport that demands remarkable skill, strategic thinking and unwavering determination from its athletes.
“Tissues may be required,” Steven noted when he shared Elliotte’s video.
Although Mitchell’s condition limits his mobility, he does all the normal teenage things, focusing on what he can do rather than what he can’t.
When he’s not playing powerchair football, he’s gaming on his Xbox or socializing with his friends on his computer. Mitchell plans to study game design at college.
Steven Tinkler | Competency Assurance Team Leader
Steven, whose background is in mechanical engineering, moved into a Human Resources role in 2021, where he works as a competency assurance team leader in the Norway business unit.
He oversees Teesside's training and competency team, which won HR&D (Human Resources and Development) Awards for Excellence in Organizational Development (2024) and Excellence in Leadership Development (2025).
“We train, we confirm competency and support personal development,” he said. “But more than that, fundamentally, all our activity is in support of the business and its development. We constantly work to understand what the business needs, and we help them deliver it.”
