Cricket celebrity supports Southwark Council sports event
Published 22 June 2010
As a way of encouraging girls to take part in sport, England's first black female cricket ace Ebony Jewel Rainford-Brent will be enthralling pupils with tales of her international sporting career.
Southwark Council will be holding an event on 29 June at Burgess Park community sports ground (Waite Street) with the aim of encouraging and motivating girls to sign up for sporting activities at all levels.
Ebony's talk will help break down the barriers women in sport sometimes face and highlight the physical benefits being active can have. The talk will also highlight the importance of mental attitude and how having a clear focus can benefit people in sport as well as in life.
Ebony herself faced the prospect of disability after suffering a prolapsed disc in her back during her college years. Told she would never play sport again, Ebony's tough mental attitude enabled her to prove the doctors' wrong, as she made a full recovery and went on to become a celebrated sporting champion.
The motivational talk will be accompanied by a dvd showing clips of Ebony in action winning the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup in 2009 when England's women returned home triumphantly from Australia with the World Cup for the first time since 1993, having beaten New Zealand by four wickets in the final.
Girls' empowerment day will involve 11 to 16 year-olds having a taster of tennis, boxing, football and of course cricket, perhaps even inspiring a new batting partner for Ebony.
