“We want to engage with our local community.”
Surrey County Cricket Club this week announced the second annual Proud Surrey T20 match will be taking place this season on Sunday July 2nd, against Essex at The Kia Oval.
Much like in 2022, the game will be presented in association with Proud Surrey – the official Surrey LGBTQ+ supporters’ group.
Ahead of the announcement, we spoke to the Vice Chair of Proud Surrey Emily Iveson-Pritchard about the vision for the second Proud Surrey T20 game and how it’s going to be bigger and better than last year’s effort.
“This year’s Pride game at Surrey can only grow on last year’s,” Emily said. “We’re looking to move beyond just the pitch and what we’re doing on the day.
“We want to engage with our local community. We have one of the largest LGBTQ+ communities in the country in Lambeth and Southwark and it’s time to engage with them and bring them into the Surrey fold.
“We’re looking at engaging with recreational cricket over the weekend of the game, and making it more educational – talking about the requirements of LGBTQ+ communities and how allies can help them.”
Asked what difference an event like this, or a supporters’ group like Proud Surrey, would have made to her life growing up, Emily was clear that it would have made “all the difference.”
She added: “It’s sometimes hard being a queer child. You can feel marginalised, excluded, as though you don’t belong.
“When a venue like The Kia Oval and a Club like Surrey County Cricket Club says ‘we are allies’, loudly and proudly, it makes you feel loved and like you belong.
“That can mean the difference literally between life and death for some children.”
Scroll down to watch our interview with Emily in full.
Tickets for the Proud Surrey T20 are available to buy from £1 for U16s and £27 for adults are available here.
