Roses rivals unite through Lord’s Taverners Super 1s programme

The Lord's Taverners' Super 1s programme gives young people with disabilities the chance to play cricket regularly. By creating community cricket hubs, delivered weekly by county cricket boards, the programme gives disabled young people the chance to compete against their peers, enjoy the benefits of sport and live a more active life.

Nearly 60 young people with disabilities are now taking part in Super 1s across six hubs in the county every week. The five hubs where the programme is delivered in Yorkshire are Bradford, Dewsbury, Huddersfield, Sheffield and York.

The programme benefits youngsters in all aspects of their life; it has been proven that engaging in regular sport helps young people develop personal skills, including confidence, leadership and independence. For many young people with disabilities, opportunities to take part in regular competitive sport can be limited. But the Super 1s programme has created a new pathway for disabled young people to play the game.

It provided them with the chance to experience a new environment while engaging with young people in a similar situation to them, and helped to build new friendships and an understanding of what others go through on a daily basis while also improving their cricket skills.

The day began with a range of cricket skills sessions focusing on: batting, bowling and fielding, before participants from each county were mixed in to teams for an afternoon eight over a-side competition.

Super 1s programme manager, Mark Bond said: “It's great for the guys to meet people from different parts of the country. There’s a different range of ages and disabilities involved and as a young person with a disability you don’t often have a role model in your life that you can look up to that shows you how you can overcome your challenges. They’ll be able to learn from each other and pass on their own knowledge.”

Yorkshire Super 1s disability officer, Rohan Randhawa, said: “Playing cricket through Super 1s helps young people improve their social and communication skills, while also helping them work as part of a team.”

To find out more about Super 1s in Yorkshire, contact Yorkshire Super 1s development officer Rohan Randhawa on (0113) 203 3668 or vemail him at: [email protected].