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NAOMI MAGALHAES Naomi is a student at City of Westminster College. She had never held a cricket bat before or played the game prior to being introduced to it for the first time last year. Through the sessions with her coach, she developed a real love of cricket and, as a result of her strong desire to learn and improve her skills, there has been a remarkable change in her, both on and off the pitch.Naomi was a very shy student who lacked confidence in social situations. She wouldn’t speak to her coach or teammates unless spoken to and struggled to socialise and make friends at college. Naomi is now a completely different young lady. She is able to communicate, has more confidence and is happy to speak up during sessions, offering advice to her teammates. She has also made new friends at college.Naomi has become a valued member of the cricket team and particularly enjoys wicket-keeping. She is also very tactically astute and offers sound advice to her captain when in competitive situations. The opportunities to play at the Oval and Middlesex Academy were enjoyable experiences for her and helped increase her confidence when faced with young people from different colleges and other parts of London.Naomi’s self-belief has increased dramatically and she has taken this into other parts of her college life and is making excellent progress. She has been enrolled on a higher level course this year and is doing well. The whole experience of the Lord’s Taverners Disability Cricket Championships has been a positive one for her.Working inLondon Boroughs “It is amazing to have a programme like this where you can see the young people improve not only their cricket skills but their all-round development and social interaction. You wouldn’t be able to recognise Naomi now from the girl she was a year ago and this is down to the opportunity cricket has given her to discover skills she never thought she had.”Mikey Thompson Naomi's Coach171 taster sessions in special needs schools, colleges and community groups16 accredited coaches have been recruitedIMPACT REPORT09DISABILITY CRICKET12 MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 2015