Meet: April Platt, the teenager who aims to become a professional rugby player!

Hi everyone! My name is April Platt and I’d like to tell you about a fundraiser I’m doing to go to South Africa on a rugby tour next year. It is my dream to become a professional rugby player.

I was born in Stoke on Trent and currently live in Derby. I’m 17 years old and I have deaf parents and two siblings who are hearing but both sign really well. I used to go to Mary Hare school from 2013 to 2018, when I left I went to college in Derby.

I got into rugby through Mary Hare school. When I was in year 10 I studied BTEC sort with three other students and my favourite teacher, Mr Owen, also happens to be a rugby player! Mary Hare only provided me with touch rugby, and I felt I wanted more than that. So I asked Mr Owen to help me and he encouraged me to join his rugby club called Blue.

On the first day of training I was so terribly nervous. I didn’t feel comfortable as for the first time I was surrounded by hearing people and I don’t speak very well. But I put up with it and carried on to attend all the training lessons. It got better in the end.

So when I left Mary Hare school to go to college I found a local club in Long Eaton. I got in the club straightaway and they were all so welcoming and really lovely! Later, I got more successful as a player, trying scores and I played really well for my team.

I then got in touch with England Deaf Rugby and was invited to attend a trial training session. It wasn’t too bad, but again I felt like I was the only one who wasn’t great at speaking so I struggled with communication a little bit. Luckily one of my team mates could sign and she supported me all the way through.

I was selected for my first match on January 27th 2018. I played on the second half… and I tried a score! On my first ever match, my debut! I was so shocked but happy at the same time. Now I’ve been selected to go to South Africa rugby tour next year. All thanks to Mr Owen who was my inspiration.

There have been some barriers for me in rugby, especially in group discussions. I never understand when people are talking without sign but luckily I have a good friend who signs for me. Sometimes the referee may say something and I don’t understand what he’s saying. This frustrates me as I want to know what he’s saying, I want to know what we do wrong or what problems there are in a match. I have to overcome this by just asking whats going on. My brother and sister sometimes help me, they interpret things for me sometimes, we all work together.

My biggest dream is to become professional at playing rugby. I love it. If you fancy trying rugby but you feel scared, I would say you only have one life, there’s so many opportunities, you just have to GRAB them! I want to grab my opportunity to get to South Africa and so I’ve set up a fundraising page so if you can support me in this, please do so.

The South Africa tour will be from May 1-11th 2020, the fundraising page is to raise funds to cover my flight, accommodation, training, food, kits etc. I really want to go as it’s a great challenge for me and a fantastic opportunity. I will update my page with information for you to see my journey.

I believe we all learn new things every day, facing new challenges every time, so dare to dream what you want, go for it!

 

If you’d like to sponsor April or follow her rugby journey, check out www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/April-platt?utm_term=K83vWYjXe