Great Britain’s longest serving wheelchair rugby Paralympian Alan Ash has announced his retirement from international wheelchair rugby. The 43 year old started his international career in 1995 playing in the first ever World Wheelchair Rugby Championships in Switzerland. He went on to compete at five Paralympic Games – Atlanta, Sydney, Athens, Beijing and most recently Rio.
Alan began life as a Royal Marine when at age 17 he was involved in a car crash which ended his service career and left him with spinal injuries. He wasted no time in starting to play wheelchair rugby, doing so whilst at Oswestry Spinal Injuries Unit undergoing rehabilitation. This was no great surprise because prior to his injury Alan was already a talented sportsman and had played semi-professional football for Wolves and had trials for Arsenal and West Bromwich Albion.
Alan was part of the successful GB teams that won gold medals in the 2003, 2005 and 2007 European Championships, he also had two spells as GB Captain, the first in 2004/5 and again in 2013/14.
GBWR’s Performance Director Lorraine Brown said, ‘Alan has been one of the anchors of the GB squad since the establishment of the game in this country. He was unfortunate to miss out on a place in the London 2012 squad but there will be few players in the world who can claim to have taken part in five Paralympic games!’.
Ash will not leave wheelchair rugby completely but will coach the West Coast Crash team in Southport and has aspirations to develop into an elite coach. Ash said, ‘It has been an incredible privilege to represent my country over 22 years; the game has changed considerably over that time and the demands of being an elite athlete today are ever more challenging, particularly when balancing these with family life. I shall miss being part of the squad but I wish the team well – it has so much potential and is without question on the verge of breaking into the top three in the world’.
GBWR’s Chief Executive David Pond said, ‘Alan was one of the athletes who introduced me to the sport back in 2009. As we are both former servicemen we had a bit in common and I have always enjoyed his humour, resilience and his commitment to the game. I know we have not seen the last of him and I expect him to quickly establish himself as a future international coach. We thank him for the huge contribution he has made to the game and also thank his wife and family for supporting him so selflessly’.
