Great Britain’s elite disability players in the 7-a-side game, which is an adaptation of the sport for athletes with cerebral palsy, will face fierce competition in Manchester from The Netherlands, USA, and the Republic of Ireland at the invitational event.

GB 7-a-side team captain and Manchester native Jordan Raynes is looking forward to the challenge. He said, “The BT Paralympic World Cup is a massive event to be competing in. On a personal level because it’s in Manchester, which is my hometown and being able to compete in front of friends and family will be brilliant.”

Raynes will advise his team to play coolly under pressure as they look forward to the event and to future competitions. The 19-year-old continued, “When we went to Beijing the atmosphere was electric and it’s difficult to simulate playing in that kind of environment. The BT Paralympic World Cup will be key in helping us get that experience and we see it as a major stepping stone towards London 2012. The best advice I’ve ever gotten was from my dad, who told me that you always need to play the game and not the occasion. We need to relax and not let the occasion get to us, because for us, it’s a very important tournament.”

The preliminary team includes Martin Sinclair (Bath), brother of Wigan striker Scott Sinclair, who has also played for Chelsea FC and Queens Park Rangers. As well as Sinclair, the GB team for the event will be selected from the following players: Michael Barker (Liverpool), Gavin Brooke (Harlow), Josh Beacham (Hayes), Dean Cartwright (Wigan), Matt Dimbylow (Sandiway), Richard Fox (Hemel Hempstead), Graham Leclerec (Boreham Wood), Jamie Pratt (Stockport), Jordan Raynes (Manchester), Joel Taylor (Liverpool), Leon Taylor (Derby), Karl Townshend (Cheshunt), Sam Whatley (New Malden) and Michael Wilson (Chelmsford).

BT Ambassador and player Richard Fox echoes the importance of the BT Paralympic World Cup to the team and to the sport as a whole. He said, “We’ve always said it would be great to be able to increase the amount of media coverage that the sport receives. For us, it’s also a hobby because we all work full-time in addition to playing. It will be great to be able to compete in an event like the BT Paralympic World Cup to increase the profile of the sport. We’ll also be playing against teams that sit around us in the world rankings, which I know will inspire us to play well. It will be great to get these games under our belt.”

Both Raynes and Fox were on hand in February to announce Football 7-a-side’s induction to the 2010 BT Paralympic World Cup at an event which also attracted Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given and Burnley players Wade Elliot and Michael Duff to endorse the event.

The sport will add an exciting new dimension to the BT Paralympic World Cup in a city renowned for its football heritage and its great support for disability Football leagues.

Jeff Davis, FA Performance Director for Disability Football, said, “The BT Paralympic World Cup is a wonderful opportunity for the GB players to test themselves against some of the best players in world and to help gauge our progress since Beijing. If the team is to challenge on a world stage it is of paramount importance that we use competitions such as this to try new players as we strive to develop a podium winning team.”

The BT Paralympic World Cup is the world’s largest annual multi-sport elite disability event and major international stars and a strong British contingent are expected.

The competition will be staged in Manchester from 25-31 May, with over 400 competitors from over 31 countries scheduled to compete.

For the first time this year, a team challenge has been introduced which sees Great Britain take on teams from the Americas, Europe and the Rest of the World, with athletes competing for the overall BT Paralympic World Cup trophy.
Athletes will compete in four sports at world class competition venues in Manchester: Athletics, Wheelchair Basketball, Football 7-a-side at the Manchester Regional Arena and Swimming at the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

Tickets for the BT Paralympic World Cup are now on sale and can be purchased via the event website: www.btparalympicworldcup.com or by calling 0844 8471622. Tickets are priced at £6 per session.

BT is the title sponsor of the Paralympic World Cup; the sponsorship runs up to and includes the 2012 BT Paralympic World Cup.

The BT Paralympic World Cup is sanctioned by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Cerebral Palsy International Sports & Recreation Association (CPISRA) and the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) and supported by BT, ParalympicsGB, the FA, Manchester City Council and the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA).

The BBC, the official televised partner to the event, will broadcast live from the Manchester Aquatics Centre on Monday 31 May 2010 on BBC Television.

The event schedule will see Athletics on 25 May, Football 7-a-side on 26-29 May and Wheelchair Basketball on 27-30 May, all at the Manchester Regional Arena and Swimming at the Manchester Aquatics Centre on 31 May.

Follow the BT Paralympic World Cup on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BTPWC