Attendance record tumbles at DIScoverABILITY Day 2023

• 650 people from 32 organisations attend Sussex Cricket’s flagship community event at Hove
• 145 volunteers from local businesses, schools and community groups help to create some fantastic memories
• Ollie Robinson, Tymal Mills, Tom Haines and Jamie Atkins join in the fun

Sussex Cricket held its mass disability inclusion event – DIScoverABILITY Day - on Friday 12th May. The 1st Central County Ground was full, despite the wet conditions, as this year’s attendance surpassed that of the previous twelve events by a considerable distance.

650 participants from 32 different organisations including schools, colleges, day centres and community organisations enjoyed an action-packed, fun-filled day at Hove.

The carousel of activity stations was created and run by an enthusiastic team of 15 Sussex Cricket coaches and 60 business and community volunteers. The majority of volunteers came from a variety of Sussex businesses including 1st Central, Webtrends Optimize, Telefonica, Galloways Accounting, Active Sussex and Yes Promo Products. 

The event was also supported by 85 sports leaders from Brighton Girls School, Durrington High School, Lancing College Prep School, Copthorne Prep School, Dorothy Stringer School and Blatchington Mill School.

The sports leaders escorted visiting groups around the different zones providing cricket-based activities like Table Cricket, the Cricket Factory and Sid the Shark’s Big Hit Challenge. Attendees also got to try out other adapted sports including Football (Albion in the Community), Golf (Jolf) and Wheelchair Basketball.

Sid the Shark made an appearance providing numerous photo opportunities and Sussex Cricket Foundation Champion, Jamie Atkins brought Tymal Mills, Ollie Robinson and Tom Haines to join in the fun.

Despite the cloudy and wet conditions, the ground was full of smiling faces for the entire day generating some great feedback from visitors and volunteers.

Emma Catt, teacher from Saxon Mount School (St Leonards), said: “Thank you for organising another great day of games at DIScoverABILITY Day. Feedback from the staff when we got back was that all the pupils from Saxon Mount had a great time and learned new skills through lots of fun activities.

"They also enjoyed interacting with the coaches and other young people and every pupil from our school group took part in the events as they were so inclusive.” 

An employee volunteer from Telefonica said: “It’s the best day of the year for me. I’ve done it for the last three years. Absolutely love spending time with the children. It’s a real privilege to be with them.”

Sussex Community Cricket Director, Gary Wallis-Tayler said, “DIScoverABILITY Day continues to go from strength to strength. To see so many people turn up in questionable weather conditions shows the popularity of the event.

"Huge thanks to the coaches and volunteers running the activity stations, who did not have a single lull from start to finish. Thanks also to school sports leaders who once again did a wonderful job hosting our visitors.”

Sussex D40 vs Middlesex D40 at The 1st Central County Ground

The next Disability Cricket event at The 1st Central County Ground is the Sussex County Squad’s D40 Quest league fixture against Middlesex on Sunday 18th June. Register here for free tickets.

To find out more about Disability Cricket in Sussex, please contact Aroop Tanna (Disability Cricket Manager) on aroop.tanna@sussexcricket.co.uk or visit our website - https://sussexcricket.co.uk/disability-cricket