- Pundit and broadcaster Jermaine Jenas took part in a wheelchair rugby training session in Stanmore, London, with some of the sport’s best including Tokyo gold medal winners Aaron Phipps and Kylie Grimes
- The training session marks one year until the Paralympics and is part of a campaign to promote the sport
- Harlequins players Shaunagh Brown, Bryony Cleall, Lennox Anyanwu, Louis Lynagh, and Hayden Hyde, and Saracens players Hugh Tizzard, Kelsey Clifford, and Louise McMillan, joined Jenas at the Aspire National Training Centre
Sport pundit and broadcaster Jermaine Jenas and players from rugby teams Harlequins and Saracens took part in a wheelchair rugby training session in Stanmore to promote the fast-growing Paralympic sport.
With only a year to go until the Paralympics in Paris, Jermaine and the players were taught the rules of wheelchair rugby by some of Great Britain’s greatest athletes in the full-contact disability sport, including GB athletes Ollie Mangion, George Rogers, and Dave Ross, as well as Tokyo gold medal winners Aaron Phipps and Kylie Grimes, and gold medal winner at the 2023 Women’s Cup, Imogen Steele.
Shaunagh Brown, Bryony Cleall, Lennox Anyanwu, Louis Lynagh, and Hayden Hyde from Harlequins all took part, as did Saracens players Hugh Tizzard, Kelsey Clifford, and Louise McMillan
The training session, which took place in the Aspire National Training Centre in Stanmore, provided an opportunity to for the players to experience Paralympic sport first-hand, as well as discuss important issues in sport today, including mental health and participation of women in sport.
To further promote the sport, Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby (GBWR) is launching a new explainer video, coming soon, with Jermaine Jenas and players from Harlequins and Saracens. Both Harlequins and Saracens have wheelchair rugby teams competing in GBWR’s domestic league.
The training event was supported by Socios.com, the leading fan engagement and rewards platform, as part of its community and social impact initiative, Socios.com Supports. In April Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby (GBWR) announced a three-year partnership with Socios.com to support the sport’s continued growth.
Jermaine Jenas, broadcaster, pundit and Socios.com Supports Ambassador said:
“Wheelchair rugby has gone from strength to strength in Great Britain, with our national team taking gold for the first time at the Tokyo Paralympics. Since then, France have won the European Championship, and are hosts of the Paralympics next year, which means it’s likely to be a fierce faceoff between us and them in Paris. Having played my first game with the British wheelchair rugby squad, I cannot wait to see them in action. The game is all about high stakes and heavy hits, which is really entertaining – although I’m a little sore now! I’m proud to be part of this promotional campaign for the sport.”
After Great Britain won gold at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, wheelchair rugby has grown dramatically since with 34 clubs across the country with three disciplines: Paralympic wheelchair rugby, wheelchair rugby fives, and three-v-three wheelchair rugby.
Great Britain also hosted the Wheelchair Rugby European Championship earlier this spring in which France took the trophy.
Jason Brisbane, CEO of Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby said:
“We’re thrilled to be bringing greater awareness to wheelchair rugby, and disability sport more broadly, through the launch of this promotional campaign. We hope to get as many eyes on our new explainer video – coming soon – as possible, so when the Paralympics comes to our screens next year, Britain will be hooked on wheelchair rugby. We’re grateful for the support of Socios.com Supports ambassador, Jermaine Jenas, and Harlequins player and GBWR ambassador, Shaunagh Brown, who are helping to introduce wheelchair rugby to a wider audience.
“We also had the pleasure of working with two of Socios.com Supports’ existing partners in rugby union, Harlequins and Saracens – both of which have their own wheelchair rugby teams – to further strengthen the relationship between the two sports and raise awareness in the rugby family.”
Wheelchair rugby is played indoors on a hardwood court, and physical contact between wheelchairs is an integral part of the game. The sport is governed by the World Wheelchair Rugby (WWR) which was established in 1993.
Wheelchair rugby’s unprecedented success in recent years marks a significant turning point for the sport as it continues its development from growth and investment at grassroots to elite-level performance.
