North East Scotland Cricket SCIO Member Fraserburgh Cricket Club have been named as a Disability Cricket Champion Club in a bid to create more opportunities for people with disabilities to get involved in cricket in the area. Alongside other successful applicants this year Livingston and Galloway Cricket Clubs, this brings the total of Champion Cricket Clubs across Scotland to 6. The clubs selected this year demonstrated their focus on growing disability sport and opportunities for all.
Funding provided by Beyond Boundaries will help the clubs by providing guidance, support, resources and equipment. The programme will enable them to welcome and assist individuals with additional needs and varying abilities to play cricket, follow the game, officiate and volunteer.
Each Disability Cricket Champion Club receives a free kit bag containing playing equipment and a range of balls and markers to help facilitate coaching drills and games to help the club flourish.
Cricket Scotland’s Disability Cricket Development Officer Barry McGeachy said: “Through the Disability Cricket Champion Club Programme we are delighted to continue to offer new opportunities for disabled people to enjoy cricket and get involved in the sport. By giving clubs across Scotland access to adapted and easy to use equipment and tailored guidance and support, we can help ensure more people can enjoy cricket.
We are grateful to the ECB for extending the Disability Champion Clubs programme to Scotland and to funders Beyond Boundaries whose vital support helps widen participation and create more opportunities for all. I would like to congratulate this year’s Champion Clubs and I can’t wait to see what they each achieve in their communities with this boost.”
Fraserburgh Cricket Club President Michael Watson said, “Over the last 4 or 5 years, our cricket club in Fraserburgh has made a conscious decision to implement various cricketing programmes and activities for our local community to increase awareness and engage more participation. We created a plan and applied for the Disability Champion Club status as we recognised this was an area within the community that we would like to reach out to. We were absolutely delighted to be contacted by Barry and be told that we had been successful with our application. With the fantastic backing from Beyond Boundaries and Barry’s knowledge and support we’re really looking forward to our coaches working with and helping the local disability community learn and enjoy cricket, the game we love”.
