Blog: “Without my family I wouldn’t be as active as I am today”
Activity Alliance features a blog post every Friday. This year we have been sharing the experiences of disabled people involved in sport and exercise at all levels. Today, we continue this theme and hear from Elliot, a 17 year old cricketer and footballer with cerebral palsy. He tells us how valuable the support from his family has been in helping him become the active individual he is today.
Hi, I’m Elliot Christian Brown, I am 17 years old from Sussex. I have left hemiplegic cerebral palsy.
I play two main sports, the main one being cricket. I am a part of the England Disability Lions team, Middlesex Disability County team, and my local club, Steyning. I also play football for Brighton’s cerebral palsy team too. I play sport at least five times a week and sometimes as often as every day of the week.
I started playing cricket whilst at school in Year Four. I then started playing football about the same time. Sport has pretty much always been a part of my life, I have been playing for as long as I can remember and don’t intend to stop.
I’m happiest when playing my sports as I get to play and compete with a variety of people, it varies from team to team but includes disabled and non-disabled people.
For me the joy of being active is simple, I am very competitive by nature, so I want to win at anything in life. I have the drive to be the best at whatever I do but of course the best thing about playing sport is being able to have a laugh too.
Taking part in sport has given me the opportunity to experience winning in many forms, for example when I did my latest round of fitness testing I achieved personal bests on all the categories. Although other people did achieve a higher score, I felt like a winner with the scores I acheived.
I always feel great after playing cricket or football. I love playing sport and I love winning. I get a lot of joy out of being on the sports field, it allows me to feel the achievement of victory. I get this sense of achievement more so because of the disability sport I’m involved in. For me it can be a case of proving people wrong in regards to what I can do.
My family are brilliant at supporting me. They have been through a lot with me, without them I wouldn’t be who I am today. I was told I would never walk, never talk and never go to a mainstream school. Although I have had to work hard, without my family there is no way I could have got where I am today without their help, support and positive attitude. My mum especially has always looked after me so incredibly well, and still does. I owe a massive amount to my family and what they have helped me to achieve.
I have a lot of activities planned over the coming year, so the question is what don’t I have planned? I recently competed at the CP Sport CP Football National Finals on Saturday 2nd June 2018. I also recently had my first England Lions cricket match, which was great. I have six more England games this summer to look forward to and I have the rest of the Middlesex cricket season to complete, and playing for my club in Steyning as well. Then around September time the football season will start again, along with the winter England cricket training and we do the whole thing all over again!
I always want to try out new sports and I am currently an active scuba diver. However, I don’t have the time at the moment to do it often due to my other sporting commitments. My mum and dad always remind me I do have my A-levels next year, so I’ll have to schedule in some academic work too.
To other disabled people thinking of being more active, my advice would be – just give it a go first. I think when people have disabilities there can be a lot of negative thinking around sport, and that we almost have to protect ourselves and not try things, I personally think that is totally wrong. My England cricket coach has a good quote he tells me and the rest of the team when we come up with reasons for thinking we are not able to do something, “Is it a reason or an excuse” - which is a very good quote, because there is a big difference and his quote has become my mantra
Interested in trying cricket? Visit England Cricket Board website for more information or email disabilitycricket@ecb.org.uk for support to find a place near you to play.
Cerebral Palsy Sport is the country’s leading national disability sports charity supporting people with cerebral palsy to reach their sporting potential. If you’re interested in trying out football or find a place near you to play, visit CP Sport football page.
If you want to be more active but aren't sure how to start, visit our dedicated webpages for advice.
