Wheelchair Rugby comes to Tyne & Wear
Published 07 July 2008
The first ever schools event in the north east for this fast paced contact sport took take place on Wednesday 2 July 2008 at Oxclose Community School, Washington and proved to be a huge hit with all the young people who attended.
The day was one of the headline events during National School Sports Week which aims to raise the profile of PE and school sport both nationally and on a local level.
The event was open to young people with all levels of disability and mobility difficulties, with the aim of spreading the word about this fun and frenetic wheelchair sport, so regardless of their disability the young people came along and thoroughly enjoyed the day.
The day included a demonstration by Great Britain Wheelchairs rugby stars, a presentation on the game and gave the opportunity for the young people to get into the specifically designed wheelchairs and have a go themselves, which proved to be the highlight of the day.
Wheelchair Rugby is a sport that was developed specifically for tetraplegics, people with impairment in all four limbs.
The rules do not resemble able-bodied rugby, but instead have been tailored to ensure that the game has all the tactics, speed and agility that the name 'rugby' conjures up. Wheelchair rugby became a full Paralympic sport at Sydney in 2000 and it is the fastest growing wheelchair sport in the world today. For more information on the sport visist www.gbwr.co.uk.
This event was run in partnership Sunderland Local Authority Children’s Services Directorate, Oxclose Community School, Newcastle Bulls Wheelchair Rugby, Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby, Rugby Football Union, Schools Sports Coordinators and Schools Competition Managers Team.
