Now that the weather is warming up the competition and level is heating up too as the Wheelchair Rugby: Fours Premiership rolls into action. The premiership sees players with a wealth of experience and talent including nine Paralympic champions and 12 current GB team players and emerging stars from the talent pathway. On top of this European players want a slice of the action with newly crowned 2x European Champions Jonathan Hivernat and Sebastian Verdin joining the Northern Alliance and Leicester Tigers respectively. For those who haven’t experienced wheelchair rugby it has been described as “chess with violence” and “bumper cars with a ball” combining elements of rugby, basketball and handball.
Last year’s champions West Coast Crash are back to defend their title with London and Leicester Tigers returning to do battle. This year joining the competition are two combined teams representing the north and south, the Northern Alliance with players from North East Bulls and Yorkshire Lions and the SeaHawks made up of players from Team Solent Sharks and West Country Hawks.
The season kicks off in Sheffield on 3 and 4 June 2023 with focus on how Crash start the season and how the European players link up with their teams. The second event sees teams travel to Fenton Manor Sport Complex in Stoke-on-Trent on 15 and 16 July before the finale at the birthplace of the Paralympic’s, Stoke Mandeville Stadium on 5 and 6 August, where the champions and best players of the season will be crowned.
As always, spectators are very welcome to come and see the only mixed gender team sport in the Paralympics, with its hits, spills and impressive skills on display.
