Having held taster sessions in July 2017 supported by Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby, Berkshire Banshees held their first official training session in November 2017. The Banshees was set up to provide a team sport for people with physical and learning disabilities who had little or no opportunities to play a contact sport in the Berkshire area, their club’s core value is to have diversity at it’s heart and they pride themselves on being a friendly, open team that wants to give more people – no matter their age, race, sexuality, or gender – the chance to play wheelchair rugby.
New players are offered the chance to come and give wheelchair rugby a go, and from the outset the club make the effort to get to know the individual to ensure they are comfortable while at their session. The club say there is no pressure to get into a wheelchair without watching a training session first. Once a new play has the confidence, a club wheelchair can be provided to give the sport a go. The club’s formula of inclusion and diversity has appealed to many people from the local community with the club having 28 registered members across all categories.
The Banshee’s are a social club and value gatherings away from training sessions. They regularly organise trips to watch GB compete at international tournaments such as Quad Nations and the European Championships.
Banshee’s head coach, Sally Sycha, is one of the sports few active female coaches. Sally gained her level two coaching qualification in 2022 and has since helped the club to grow in confidence and knowledge. In 2023, the Banshee’s won the Championship division of the wheelchair rugby fives league and will subsequently be promoted to the Premiership in next year’s competition where they hope to test themselves against the best wheelchair rugby fives teams in the country.
Alongside their success in the WR5s league, the club have also set up a junior section and are recruiting young players from around the Berkshire area to be part of their junior team, the club hope that the addition of a new club website will be a leading factor in recruiting new members to both their junior and adult setups. In 2023, the club have combined wth Brighton Bucanners in order to field a team into the Wheelchair Rugby: Fours Division Three league called the Banshaneers.
The Banshaneers allows classifiable players from both clubs the chance to play competitive wheelchair rugby while their respective clubs continue to build towards fielding their own team in the future.
