AFC Bournemouth
Last Thursday, AFC Bournemouth’s Community Sports Trust (CST) welcomed the captain of England and Great Britain Deaf teams, Jamie Clarke, to Vitality Stadium ahead of Deaf Awareness Week (DAW).
Speaking to the club’s disability team and a young Cherries side, Clarke shed some light on his experiences as a deaf footballer on the international stage.
His discussions included the trials and tribulations of his own career, whilst reinforcing the need for self-belief amongst people with disabilities.
He explained: “I’m here to try and inspire the next generation of people who have disabilities and to help them believe in themselves more, also to show they can go on to represent their countries and achieve their dreams.
“I want to make sure they have extra confidence in themselves, so I’m hoping to do a good job with that here.”
With 11 million people that are deaf or hard of hearing in the UK and just over 150,000 British Sign Language (BSL) users, the England captain felt that the awareness raised over DAW is vital.
“For us deaf people, every day is deaf awareness,” Clarke said. “But it’s great to have Deaf Awareness Week.
“It’s important for us deaf leaders to send the message out there to, hopefully, help educate hearing people because we have barriers.
“We need more awareness and help so if we can make deaf people feel more included in other things, that’s great.
“It’s very important that the message is sent out there with everything over Deaf Awareness Week.”
The sentiment regarding the week to raise awareness was echoed by 39-year-old Cherries disability team player Andrew Coker, who has cerebral palsy and relies on sign language.
With the help of Andrew’s translator, Kat Puckett, he shared his belief that this week is “important” for deaf people.
Fellow Bournemouth disability team player and Community Sports Trust volunteer Thai Puttock was also in attendance for the evening with Jamie.
The 20-year-old aspiring footballer and coach shared: “When I was younger, I used to just think it was me that was deaf because I was the only deaf person in the school.
“So, to see other people around in the same room, same group, same society, whatever it is, it allows you to realise it’s not just you.
“Hopefully, it can really develop togetherness and bring it up from there. The more we make people aware that it’s not just them, it’ll really build their confidence.”
As part of the Community Sports Trust’s impairment specific set-up, which includes cerebral palsy, Down’s Syndrome and deaf teams, Thai has been involved in varied ways since 2018.
Playing to an impressive standard in his team, Puttock initially joined the Para Football Talent Hub programme, run in partnership with the FA to recognise talented players across deaf, cerebral palsy and partially sighted players.
He represented AFC Bournemouth in regular fixtures against other hub centres across the country before then moving on to train with other deaf players in the impairment specific football sessions with the CST.
Earlier this year, he was selected to attend a National Emerging Talent session at St. George’s Park with other players across the country.
Alongside playing, Thai also volunteers on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and sometimes Sundays to assist with coaching various sectors of the CST, which he relishes.
Puttock said: “I played football from a young age and always wanted to do it, so to be able to develop it up, especially with Bournemouth, it boosts my confidence.
“With coaching here, hopefully I can develop myself as a coach as well and coach other people because football is my go-to passion.
“My time here with Bournemouth allows me to have pathways. It’s nice at Bournemouth to be able to know that it’s not just me, I have help and I have advice – which is really key.”
The evening with the captain of the England and Great Britain Deaf teams was part of the Community Sports Trust’s work to support their players, which Andrew Coker found he got a lot out of.
“I enjoyed tonight; it was great!” he explained. “I felt really confident about it all. I really enjoyed Jamie’s talk. The night made me 100% happy and it was all interesting.”
Puttock stated: “Most people will think that it’s just a talk, it’s not going to do anything, but when you sit down and actually listen to what they do as a player or as a coach, it allows you to see the behind the scenes and realise how much it can benefit you or other players.”
Speaking on the honour of being England captain, Clarke also shared his thoughts on the evening at Vitality Stadium.
“Off the pitch, I’ve tried my best to be a good role model,” he said. “I think that plays into a part of me being captain because they see me as a good leader.
“There are a lot of eyes on me, so I have to make sure I’m doing the right things, leading by example and sending the right messages to younger people.
“All I can do is do my best and, hopefully, I’ll get better and better as a captain to help others.”
Head of community Steve Cuss also shared his thoughts, commenting: “We were delighted to welcome Jamie to Vitality Stadium. Understanding Jamie’s career pathway and barriers he has overcome was inspirational for all our AFC Bournemouth players in attendance.
“Jamie’s career has taken him to the top of the game, and it was a real privilege for our players to share the evening with him.”
For further information on the disability sessions run by the Community Sports Trust, contact either [email protected] or [email protected]
