AROUND TOWN SPORT
Together Everyone Achieves More
No human is limited. The only limitation is our mind.
That was the message that record-breaking long-distance runner, Eliud Kipchoge, declared at the Sports Personality of the Year awards back in December.
He pushed everything to the limit when he became the first person to complete a marathon in under two hours last year. But he also acknowledged the team behind him who played a role in his miraculous feat. “We don’t live alone in this world; we must support one another,” he said as he prepared to announce the winner of the BBC Get Inspired Unsung Hero award.
On the same stage in Aberdeen that night was Doncaster man, Darren Warner; a man for whom Eliud’s words articulate perfectly the moral behind the amazing work he continues to do for people with disabilities in South Yorkshire in the face of his own health issues.
Nobody should be constrained by a diagnosis. Darren is the manager of Club Doncaster
Titans, a pan-disability football club for children and adults which he started in 2014. A club that he dedicates seven days a week to despite having a life-limiting lung disease which he was diagnosed with soon after starting the club.
‘‘Darren is a true unsung hero who has worked tirelessly for the last five and a half years to set a precedent in disability football that other clubs are following suit’’
From the cold and miserable winter nights to the long, dry summer days, Darren strives to be there for his players 50 weeks out of the year, stopping to the end of training sessions in all weathers even when he’s feeling at his worst. “I might as well enjoy life while I can. I will never be beaten by what it has in store for me,” he says.
His positive mentality drips down through the club to the players, many of whom face daily struggles or setbacks themselves.
Whether that’s hearing or visual impairments, learning disabilities or physical incapacities, the club is open to anyone who wants to play football but cannot join a mainstream team. It is the club’s reputation and commitment to giving people of all abilities the chance to stop being spectators and finally play the beautiful game that keeps drawing players in. For never giving up on himself, his club or the players, Darren was nominated for the BBC Get Inspired Unsung Hero award by Chris Brook whose son Archie joined Club Doncaster Titans at the beginning of last year. Since then, Archie, who has autism, has been given opportunities he never imagined possible, going on to do a level one coaching badge to train the younger players
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aroundtownmagazine.co.uk under Darren’s encouragement.
Out of over 30 nominees from across the four counties, Darren won the Yorkshire award, with the judging panel highlighting how he has not only overcome his own issues, but also helped those who find it very difficult to access sport. One of the five judges, disability development officer for Yorkshire Cricket Board, Rohan Randhawa, said: “I voted for Darren because of his commitment to not only improve his own life but to then dedicate his time to improve the lives of others is truly inspirational
“I believe Darren is a prime example of a role model that has the ability to have a major positive impact on all the participants he coaches.” After winning the Yorkshire award, Darren was then up against 14 other regional winners hoping to be named the overall Unsung Hero at the televised ceremony in front of some of sport’s finest names.
On the night, the award went to Nottingham’s
Keiren Thompson who runs the basketball-driven Helping Kids Achieve initiative aimed at keeping deprived children and young people away from a life of crime.
But regardless of bringing a trophy home or not, Darren is a true unsung hero who has worked tirelessly for the last five and a half years to set a precedent in disability football that other clubs are following suit.
It would be fair to say life hasn’t always played to Darren’s advantage; although he is now a beacon of light for so many people, he has tackled great darkness in his past. But as they say, behind every great man is an even greater woman and it is a chance meeting with a great woman back in 2003 which first set the ball rolling for Darren’s bright future. At that time, he was battling the demons of a drug addiction and was being chaperoned home
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