Blind Cricket South Africa tours Pakistan these days. Here, three ODIs and just as many T20s stand and stood on the schedule. The ODIs took place at the Southern Club Cricket Ground in Karachi. And the T20s will be played at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. You can watch all the matches in this tour on the Pakistan Blind Cricket Council YouTube channel.
The fact that Blind Cricket South Africa can gather this valuable experience owes a lot to Hollywoodbets. Because: The bookie sponsored the players and the staff in terms of match as well as training kits and contributed to the travel costs. Thus, the leading bookie in South Africa distinguished itself with a remarkable CSR project and the blind cricket team benefits from a massive boost.
The bookie commits itself to blind cricket for a more than two years now
However, this doesn’t constitute Hollywoodbets’ first sponsorship for South African blind cricket. On the contrary, the cooperation began more than two years ago. Hollywoodbets’ brand and communications manager, Devin Heffer, explained: “We began our sponsorship of Blind Cricket in January 2020. At the time, we supported the South African blind team in their ODI and T20 series against New Zealand. The blind Proteas won by a clear margin. The passion and commitment of these athletes overwhelmed us, and we wanted to get more involved.”
Heffer said this in the context of the news that the South African bookie became the main sponsor of the KZN Blind Cricket team. In this regard, the partnership includes a purple playing kit, training outfits and the cricket as well as travel equipment. Furthermore, Hollywoodsbets assumed the same role at the Blind Cricket South Africa (BCSA) National Tournament, which took place last year from 4 to 7 October. Here, it financed accommodations for all teams, their meals, the preparation, and rental of the fields as well as the COVID-19 Tests. Additionally, the betting site provided the live streaming.
Blind cricket is growing in popularity
Blind cricket represents the fastest growing sport for visually impaired people, and not just in South Africa. This is partly thanks to the fact that it represents one of the few disciplines that can be played by both blind and visually impaired people.
As in normal cricket, the game is played with a ball that contains a metal ball bearing. Thus, the players receive audible signals. Moreover, the stumps are larger and, on top of that, painted in fluorescent colours. This ensures that the visually impaired athletes can orient themselves better.
Alice is half Austrian and half Italian. So, she experienced the 1990 World Cup in Italy at very close quarters. And that sparked her enthusiasm for football. Since she loved to write since childhood, Alice began to engage in journalism while still at school....
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By Alice Kopp
Alice is half Austrian and half Italian. That's why she experienced the 1990 World Cup in Italy at first hand. And that awakened her enthusiasm for football. Since she has loved writing since childhood, Alice began to study journalism while still at school. It was very convenient for her that her class took part in a project of a German daily newspaper. She was also allowed to write for the children's pages of an Austrian daily newspaper and to get a taste of the sports department of the same medium. This is how she received her first press accreditations, which was of course anything but a matter of course for the then 18-year-old.
Although she was partly advised against it, Alice decided to study journalism and communication sciences. After a few years, she decided to use the exams she had taken as an elective. Nevertheless, she applies the knowledge she has acquired in her further professional life. The same applies to her language skills. In addition to her mother tongues German and Italian, Alice is also proficient in English and Spanish. She also understands French and can use this language in research.
During her studies, Alice was involved in an Austrian football club. At the same time, she wrote for a total of three Austrian portals and worked as an Austria correspondent for an Italian-language online medium. This collaboration started during Giovanni Trapattoni's era at Red Bull Salzburg and continued during EURO 2008. This gave her the opportunity to interact with Trapattoni as well as with Italian journalists.
From the following year, Alice initially worked with a Swiss portal before discovering sports betting content for herself. On the one hand, this kept her in sports journalism, and on the other, it broadened her horizons. And that both in the context of the sports betting industry and with other sports as well as countries. In the field of sports journalism, she focused in particular on football from around the world, volleyball and beach volleyball.
In addition, she naturally wrote several guides, bookmaker profiles, bonus articles and other content for betting enthusiasts. She did this for the same company for about ten years, writing articles in German and Italian. She also built the Italian-language website together with the managing director. Meanwhile, Alice started working with another Austrian football club. Furthermore, she joined the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS) in 2016. This gives her the opportunity to watch teams and athletes on the ground relatively often.
Not only sports betting, but also radio
In January 2019, the next step in her professional development followed. For: she started creating premium content on the topic of sports betting. In the process, she finally put out feelers to almost all countries and all continents. And this was not least due to the fact that both German and English-speaking users subscribed to her content. Nevertheless, Alice continued to use her knowledge of Italian, among other things. On the one hand, because she regularly exchanges ideas with Italian colleagues, and on the other, because she works with a web radio station.
The Corona crisis had a strong impact on the sports world and on interest in sports betting, primarily in the early days. Therefore, a fresh start was necessary and, on balance, Alice found the fields of activity that suited her best. She also writes articles for an agency on almost all disciplines as well as on eSports and content for a German online medium.
Alice is half Austrian and half Italian. That's why she experienced the 1990 World Cup in Italy at first hand. And that awakened her enthusiasm for football.
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