The GB squad arrive home on Tuesday after competing in the Canada Cup in Vancouver. This is a great competition which brings together many of the top teams in the world. Although this year world No 1 USA did not take part, it was good to see the nations ranked 2, 3 and 4 – Australia, Canada and Japan all there for us to play. For the majority of our squad, this was the first time they had been exposed to this level of competition and they showed that they are more than ready to pitch themselves against the best. The stand out performance was their game against Paralympic Silver medallists Canada which they lost by one point in the dying seconds of the match. The team will be gutted by losing this which is understandable – (I felt the same watching!) but in truth they will have gained a huge amount from the experience and as with any sport, you have to play top level games and lose a few if you are to have any chance of developing into a team which is able to consistently win at the very highest level. International wheelchair rugby is no different to any other sport – games are won and lost by the odd pass that goes astray, the unexpected turnover and the referee’s decision which does not go your way – seemingless small unconnected factors but which more than often happen at critical points in a game and ultimately determine which team gets a medal. The more exposure we get to playing in high pressure situations the better we will become at managing them and eliminating errors.
Our emerging talent was clear to see in Canada and it was fantastic that Coral Batey was awarded the best 1.5 in this her very first ranking tournament. Ayaz Bhutta was also recognised with the award for the best 2.5 – well done to both of them. Our coaches and performance team also deserve a mention as they have done a great job to get this new squad to this level in a short time. I know that both coaches will barely draw breath as they will be reviewing the Canada Cup performance as a critical part of preparing for the World Championships in just over a month’s time. The team go into the tournament ranked 5th in the world and have a tough group which includes Australia and Canada again, along with Denmark, Finland and Belgium. The performance against Canada in this tournament should give the squad confidence that they have nothing to fear and that they are on the right track to start breaking into those medal spots.
Our progress as a sport over the last 18 months has been remarkable. We are growing the game at club level, identifying new talent and developing a performance system and a culture which I am confident will ultimately bring us success. In Canada we saw a largely new squad and a new coaching team demonstrate that we have much to look forward to and that we have a belief that our time will come. That belief should not be taken as complacency for we understand that the quality of performance is increasing across the world and we know that we have to be totally committed and focused on the continuous improvement of all aspects of our game. We are fortunate to have the support of UK Sport, the Lottery and our partners to help us achieve our ambition.
Congratulations to Australia on winning the Canada Cup and we look forward to playing you again in Odense. And a very big thank you to BCWSA and our Canadian friends for hosting what is always a first class event.
David Pond
