On Sunday 9th October, GBWR hosted a women and girls’ day as part of the Women’s Sport Week celebrations.
Ten disabled women and a group of 10 young adults with learning impairments joined us for the day, with 2 sessions running in parallel. We were delighted to be supported by Amy Marren, Paralympic Bronze medallist 200m Individual Medley, who trained at the Hornchurch Sports Centre in her preparations for Rio, and Emily Scott, England Women’s Rugby 7s Olympian.
The day was very relaxed and was a great opportunity for everyone to get to know each other.
Some of the women were completely new to wheelchair rugby so we made sure they could build their confidence through a variety of chair skills, ball skills and the basics of ‘making contact’.
Gemma said “It was great fun, even though I’m not the fastest on court I learnt how to block players using my rugby chair”.
Liz added “This is the first team sport I’ve really enjoyed playing, the ball is light so it’s easier for me to pass and score compared with basketball”.
During the breaks we talked about the challenges faced by disabled women accessing sport and recreation. There was a general desire amongst the group to be able to access a competitive variant version of the game in localities near to where they live.
Amy and Emily also talked about their Rio experiences and we all had the chance to find out their ‘behind the scenes’ stories! One of the women in the group had also been to Rio as a volunteer and her ‘claim to fame’ was featuring on one of the Last Leg episodes.
We plan to have more Women and Girls’ sessions to encourage more players into wheelchair rugby. If you have any ideas or would like support to host a Women and Girls’ event please contact Kirsty Clarke, National Development Officer by e-mail at kirsty.clarke@gbwr.org.uk.
There’s so many benefits to playing – feeling good, being with friends, achieving your goals, improving your skills or maybe just having fun!
