Damaris Cooke and Rolf Choutan will front British Sign Language presentations of events such as the Champions League Final
BT Sport has hired Damaris Cooke and Rolf Choutan to provide British Sign Language (BSL) presentation around a range of live televised sport in 2023, including June’s UEFA Champions League Final.
The pair have been brought on board as part of the New Signing initiative from the broadcaster and EE, which was announced in October. Cooke and Choutan were selected from ten finalists, who had been shortlisted from a large pool of applicants.
The final ten were put through their paces during a casting day for New Signing in December, in front of a panel of experts including Kevin Evans, executive producer BT Sport; Christian Cotter, producer, BT Sport; Lesley McGilp, head of signing, access services, Red Bee Media; and Sean Noone, head of competitions, England Deaf Football.
The pair’s journey will be showcased in a documentary series, that will premiere on BT Sport and EE platforms at 3.45pm on 4 February.
Cooke has captained both GB Women’s Football and England Women’s Football teams, while Crystal Palace season ticket holder Choutan has previously played deaf football and currently plays for a Deaf Futsal team.
Cooke said: “Within a few hours of New Signing being launched, I had received over thirty messages from friends and family urging me to apply. I am well known as being sports mad and represented my country in women’s football. Accessibility in sport is something I am so passionate about and so I am thrilled to bits to be involved in such an exciting journey. Times truly are changing and I’m so honoured to be going along for the ride.”
Choutan said: “When a friend alerted me to BT Sport and EE’s New Signing opportunity, with the opportunity of delivering football punditry in BSL, I didn’t hang about with getting my application in. This represents an exciting new chapter of accessibility for Deaf people within sport and one I feel privileged to be a part of.”
Jamie Hindhaugh, head of BT Sport, added: “Damaris and Rolf showed great energy and their personalities shone through. They both struck a great balance between being charismatic and adding personal touches while also delivering the right information. We cannot wait to see them both develop on screen this year.”
Matt Stevenson, head of sponsorship at BT, commented: “Congratulations to Damaris and Rolf. New Signing supports EE’s work with the four Home Nations Football Associations to ensure football is as inclusive as possible for everyone.”
This announcement comes shortly after BT Sport launched its Sign Up campaign, which aims to raise the profile of the deaf community in sport through a range of content broadcast on its linear channels as well as streaming platforms and social accounts.
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