LCCA/England Blind Cricket Team Development Programme

England will play the West Indies in 2006

Partner Organization

The London Community Cricket Association (The LCCA)

Project Location

Barbados/West Indies

Target Group

Visually impaired people

Time Frame

Initial visits in March and July 2003. Follow up match series in February 2004. Further visit in January 2005 and a three match series (England v. West Indies) planned for early 2006.

Objectives

To increase awareness by people with a disability, members of the family and the general public, that a disability does not need to lead to an unfulfilled life and to open up possibilities for visually impaired people to develop a talent and zest for the game of cricket.

General Project Information

2003 was The Year of the Disabled in Barbados and the LCCA and UK Sport sent a specialist team to showcase the opportunities the game of Cricket offers to the visually impaired, led by England Blind Cricket Coach, Andy Sellins.

Coaching sessions were held across the island and top coaches were taught how to work with disabled sportsmen and women. The initial visit culminated in a match played by the newly trained Caribbean players and a celebrity team from Barbados, skippered by Desmond Haynes. Media interest was high, both in Barbados and in the UK.

Three coaches and three players were asked back in the July to run a follow-up coach training and coaching programme and to make a presentation to the Caribbean Council for Disability in Trinidad, which have been focusing their work on developing wider opportunities for visually impaired people in the region.

Outcomes

A base of players, coaches, managers and officials in place
A Barbados based organisation leading further developments
Equipment and clothing delivered and coach education material distributed
Working partnerships established with government departments
Good links established with the cricket authorities, the national media, the British High Commission and the commercial sector
Working partnerships established with long term sponsors
New links created with the World Blind Cricket Council
A four-year development strategy in place
Awareness of disability issues throughout the island and the region
Increased aspirations within disabled people and their families

Further Developments

UK Sport also funded a group of 3 blind players and two coaches to run an introductory blind cricket development programme in Jamaica, in October 2004, encouraged by the success of the Barbados programme, which was followed by a further visit in January 2005. During the latest visit representatives from Antigua, Guyana and the Leeward Islands made contact to express an interest in setting up blind cricket on their islands so that the sport can grow across the region. The Barbados Council for People with a Disability are also entering a West Indies Team for the 2006 Blind Cricket World Cup.