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For six years, cricketers living with a disability have had to put their dreams of playing for the ACT on the national stage on hold. But now, there’s a renewed effort to get the territory back into the national competition – and make cricket inclusive for everyone. Rob Regent, the founder of disability organisation Everyday Champions, said it was tough getting a team into the competition because there were few chances to play locally. A team is playing in Canberra’s Indoor Cricket Competition, up against able-bodied teams, but with only seven team members, they are still on the hunt for new players. “These guys really look forward to every Friday night game,” Mr Regent said. “Right now, if they [the team] want to play at a national level they have to play for NSW.” Mr Regent said an ACT team would be a strong contender in the competition, drawing players back to the territory who had been some of the strongest in the NSW team. Everyday Champions has been working for the last four years to get a team in the national competition and to build the opportunities for more robust inclusive cricket in the ACT. The Everyday Champions team is the only one in the indoor competition made up of people with a disability. Mr Regent said it was because people didn’t know there was a space to play sport inclusively at this competitive level. He said there had been a big focus on creating opportunities for people with different needs to play sport in school in recent years, but those chances dried up after school. “Where it falls down is when these guys leave school,” Mr Regent said. “There are no real competitions then, especially in the Canberra area.” READ MORE: The Everyday Champions cricket team hopes it can show how to fix this breakdown. The team is also keen to spread the message that Canberrans with a disability can play sport in the territory. “Compared with other states, ACT have been typically weak with supporting people with disability people in sports,” Mr Regent said. “Hopefully Everyday Champions get a team in at the national level and we can start to change this.” Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
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For six years, cricketers living with a disability have had to put their dreams of playing for the ACT on the national stage on hold.
But now, there’s a renewed effort to get the territory back into the national competition – and make cricket inclusive for everyone.
Rob Regent, the founder of disability organisation Everyday Champions, said it was tough getting a team into the competition because there were few chances to play locally.
A team is playing in Canberra’s Indoor Cricket Competition, up against able-bodied teams, but with only seven team members, they are still on the hunt for new players.
“These guys really look forward to every Friday night game,” Mr Regent said.
“Right now, if they [the team] want to play at a national level they have to play for NSW.”
Mr Regent said an ACT team would be a strong contender in the competition, drawing players back to the territory who had been some of the strongest in the NSW team.
Everyday Champions has been working for the last four years to get a team in the national competition and to build the opportunities for more robust inclusive cricket in the ACT.
The Everyday Champions team is the only one in the indoor competition made up of people with a disability.
Mr Regent said it was because people didn’t know there was a space to play sport inclusively at this competitive level.
He said there had been a big focus on creating opportunities for people with different needs to play sport in school in recent years, but those chances dried up after school.
“Where it falls down is when these guys leave school,” Mr Regent said.
“There are no real competitions then, especially in the Canberra area.”
The Everyday Champions cricket team hopes it can show how to fix this breakdown.
The team is also keen to spread the message that Canberrans with a disability can play sport in the territory.
“Compared with other states, ACT have been typically weak with supporting people with disability people in sports,” Mr Regent said.
“Hopefully Everyday Champions get a team in at the national level and we can start to change this.”
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
