Our inclusive learning cricket team from Southall Community College have represented Ealing to claim victory over 29 other London Boroughs in the Lord’s Taverners Disability Cricket Championship (LTDCC).
The young students also had the thrill of visiting the Lord’s Cricket Ground for the final and awards presentation.
The students won the right to represent Ealing after beating out other local schools in the area and then went on to beat all-comers before taking down Hackney in the final.
Twenty-nine boroughs from across London took part in the competition which saw young people with a wide range of physical and intellectual disabilities compete in a specially designed version of indoor cricket.
The final was umpired by England and Kent international cricketer Sam Billings, who has been a great supporter of disability cricket as an ambassador for the Lord’s Taverners. The Lord’s Taverners Disability Cricket Championships aim to not only provide competition for young disabled people, but also improve key life skills such as confidence, independence and leadership, as well as improving their fitness.
Supporting, organising and mentoring the team the whole way was Conrad Scott, an Inclusive Learning tutor at Southall Community College. Conrad was extremely proud of what his students achieved, saying: “The best part was seeing the range of learning and physical disabilities across the groups involved in the competition. The teams were all amazingly supportive of each other and always wished each other well for their upcoming matches. The competition was a wonderful experience for our young students, and they learnt a lot about social awareness and being part of a team while learning key preparation skills and developing a level of independence”.