Dinnington family hope to boost Steelers with new local talent

Teenager Jack Waring is to assist the coaching of newcomers to the Sheffield Steelers club, while his mum Lorraine is a club official.

They’re both involved with a new initiative to attract fresh talent to the club.

She explained to the Guardian: “From Saturday 8th June we’ve got brand new academy training sessions, and we want to take people trying out the sport for the first time from beginner to being involved in our side in the national league.”

The club has seen a swell in membership since the Paralympics in London last year, and Lorraine hopes a boost in profile will encourage more people to give the sport a chance.

“Our training sessions will be held on Saturdays, beginning with a drop-in session on 8th June, and it’s a chance for people to come down and give wheelchair basketball a try for the first time,” she added.

The first session will run from 11am to 4pm at the club’s base at Northern General Hospital’s spinal injuries unit.

Jack Waring, a Dinnington Comprehensive student, plays for the Steelers first division team, and also for the Great Britain Under 22s.

The Steelers are a registered charity, founded in 1987 by a handful of ex-patients from the Spinal Injuries Unit at Lodgemoor, a division of the NHS Sheffield Teaching Hospital Trust.

They club’s aim is to be ann inclusive, for players of all abilities from amateur right through to to world-class.