Budleigh Salterton CC's Emma Cooling was recognised earlier this year for her work spearheading the club's disability cricket programme by the ECB.
Having won the Inspired to Play award at the 2025 Devon Cricket Collective Awards, Emma was selected by the ECB as the national winner for the award, citing that "her adapted sessions, creativity, and warmth have transformed lives and made cricket accessible to those who never imagined they could play."
The club's move to The Holt in 2023 provided Budleigh Salterton with the perfect opportunity to provide a disability cricket offer that was not suitable at Ottermouth.
"The new site was an opportunity, and they needed someone to head it up," says Emma. "I didn't have any experience working with anyone with disabilities, but I was just really interested and thought it was an area that could do with an injection of energy, and I had that!"
Emma was crowned Devon's Inspired to Play winner for introducing hundreds of new participants to cricket over the previous 12 months, with many having never had the opportunity to play any sport before. Initially supported by the Devon Cricket Foundation, Emma runs weekly table cricket sessions for adults with severe and complex needs, weekly softball cricket sessions for adults with disabilities and a multitude of events for SEND children and schools.
"It started with table cricket and then, working with the Devon Cricket Foundation, we realised there were opportunities for school children with special educational needs and disabilities that probably wouldn't get a chance to represent their school or their club, that might benefit from some cricket days and events that were geared up specifically towards them and their differing needs."
2026 Devon Cricket Collective Awards Nominations
Nominations for this year's Cricket Collective Awards close at 11:59pm on Friday, 31 July.
"If you've got somebody at your club that you've thought is going the extra mile, making a difference, then nominate them," says Emma.
"I think for any volunteer, a little bit of recognition goes a long way. It's not what anyone does it for, but having somebody looking from the outside and recognising [the work volunteers do] is a massive boost."
