Rainhill CC named as disability cricket champion club
Sessions for people with disabilities will run during August
Rainhill Cricket Club is pleased to announce that it has been awarded ECB Disability Cricket Champion Club (DCCC) status.
As part of its commitment to facilitating inclusion, the club has been considering ways to deliver opportunities for people with disabilities to enjoy cricket. The DCCC programme seeks to support clubs to create a welcoming environment in which people with ‘additional needs and varying abilities are supported to play, follow, officiate and volunteer’.
Rainhill Cricket Club is dedicated to equity and providing cricket for all. The committee believes that being a Disability Cricket Champion Club will not only enable to club to better serve people with disabilities but will be central to achieving the wider vision of becoming an authentically inclusive club.
The ECB recognises four distinct types of disability: physical disability, sight impairment, hearing impairment and learning disability. The club will be receiving support from the ECB and Lancashire Cricket Foundation.
During August, sessions will be run at Rainhill designed to provide opportunities for people with disabilities to experience the game. These will take the form of one-to-one coaching.
The longer-term aim is to integrate people with disabilities into training and existing teams as much as is possible. It is not envisaged that Rainhill with have a distinct disability team as such in the short-term. The Recreational team is well-placed to include people with additional needs, due to its ethos and previous/ongoing experience of providing opportunities for people with physical disabilities and neurodiverse people. However, it is recognised that potential players may have a range of needs and abilities, and that all teams at Rainhill Cricket Club – from under 9s to the 1st team – will be involved in facilitating integration.
Being a Disability Cricket Champion Club is not only about increasing participation for players with disabilities – it’s about creating opportunities more widely. The club would like to encourage people with disabilities to be involved in all aspects of club life, including as spectators and volunteering (e.g. scoring, umpiring, ground maintenance and committee membership).
People with additional needs who wish to be involved in the club are encouraged to meet with Peter Mercer, lead coach, to discuss specific requirements. He can be contacted at pmercer426@gmail.com
Peter Mercer feels this development has the potential to enable to club to more effectively serve local people. He said: ‘All of us at the club are looking forward to our DCCC journey and the opportunities we hope it brings to our community’.