So the names of West Coast Crash and Yorkshire Lions are added to the trophies after this season’s Roma Sport National Championships. Sweet victories for both teams as Lions collect their first silverware since joining the Super Series and Crash go one better than their Super Series runner-up position. In last week’s blog I said it was the most open tournament I can remember and that certainly came true. I saw coach Alan Ash at Lilleshall earlier this week and he was rightly a proud coach! It is great to see such an experienced Paralympian doing the business as a coach and the fact that more former GB athletes are getting involved in coaching and development bodes well for the future of the sport. We have just gone out to advertise for new RDO roles so if you are looking for a job and you fit the job description in the advert why not submit an application? As an aside… I wasn’t sure about Alan’s new hairstyle… sort of Elvis looking!
It is also good news that so much new talent is finding its way into the sport and into the Super Series. I was really pleased to see Faye West, Lou Tempest and Gemma Lumsdaine picking up awards and reinforcing the fact that opportunity exists in our game for both men and women – there are few team games that can claim the same. Thank you to Medway Park for hosting the event and to all of the Kent supporters (mostly from Canterbury I think!) who came along to watch. Kent is becoming quite a force for supporting wheelchair rugby as Canterbury get behind most things, we have the fantastic fundraising support from Sevenoaks Rugby Club and from Roger Alwen and Robert Horner, both from Kent. And of course our Chairman is a Kent man too and enjoyed catching up with everyone at Medway. Thank you to everyone who made the event happen especially Lee Stutely, our officials, teams, volunteers, staff, spectators and of course our title sponsor Roma Sport.
So we now have the draw for the World Championship and we will play world ranked two, USA and world ranked four Canada, in our pool as well as France, our friend and rival from over the Channel, with Columbia and Poland making up the pool. I was with the GB squad this week and they were looking very focused, though by the end of the week a bit tired as all had gone into the camp straight from playing for their clubs in the Roma Sport Nationals. The coaches and athletes will be happy with the draw though everyone knows that to be the best you have to play and defeat the best so they are preparing to do just that. The Quad Nations showed that we are up there with the best and our time for medals is coming!
It’s exciting to see that the first Rugby 5s Summer League tournament starts on 5th May at Stoke Mandeville and I know that a number of clubs have been training hard and are looking forward to this version of our game really taking off. The game, with its own classification system enables us to provide more wheelchair rugby to more people and to grow our community. It is testament to our commitment to being an inclusive sport – one of the core values that members helped develop. Well done to Luke White and Adam Simmons who have done so much to get this game out there.
David Pond
