Congratulations to Jim, Ayaz, Jamie, Mandip, Ross, Gavin, Coral, Chris, Alan, Bulbul, Johnny and Mike, all who have been selected to represent GB at the European Championships in Finland. Chris Ryan will captain the squad with Gavin Walker as Vice-Captain. This is a strong line up and we wish them well as they prepare themselves for the most important tournament GB has played since last year’s World Championships. The winners and runners up at the Europeans get automatic qualification to the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio and so we want to be in that space!
It’s been a successful few days for the GB team and Talent squad both who took part in the Metro Cup in Warsaw. GB went on to win the tournament with the Talent squad placed 8th and gaining valuable experience of international competition. The GB team now head off to Switzerland later this week where they will play the hosts along with Sweden, Denmark and Finland, in the Swiss Preparation tournament – all teams they are likely to meet again in September at the European Championships.
ITV confirmed this week that it will broadcast live the evening games of BT WWRC15. Martyn Salt and I have been working with Niall Sloane, Head of Sport at ITV for a number of months to achieve this fantastic partnership and are delighted that ITV will take our game into the homes of everyone who wants to see it. It is also fantastic to see who ITV has pulled together to present the tournament. Martin Bayfield, former British Lion and England rugby player who is now a top sports and Crimewatch presenter heads the billing, supported by our own Steve Brown and Mike Spence who will bring sport insight to the coverage. This is a big step forward for our game and a great opportunity to further build interest from those who might want to play, or get involved as volunteers, classifiers, officials or sponsors.
Meanwhile there is lots of planning going on in the background to deliver wheelchair rugby experiences at many of the Rugby World Cup Trophy Tour venues and fan Zones. Brighton, Exeter, Stoke Mandeville and Twickenham will all get the chance to experience wheelchair rugby as part of the Rugby World Cup activities and we may extend these opportunities to other fan zones. All of these venues also allow us to focus on continuing the successful growth of our sport and clubs.
Finally, it’s the AGM next week. If you are not going to be able to attend but want to vote on the resolutions then don’t forget to complete your Proxy Vote.
David Pond
The full press release for the European Championship squad announcement is available at this link.
