What happens when Team GB the European Champions and 5th placed team in the World Rankings, are getting better and better each year??
Well naturally, the answer is simple, STOP THE FUNDING!!!!????
Yes, I kid ye not!!! Just imagine if England won Euro 2016 and came home as European Champions and then all funding was stopped, how would you feel?
We are the only disability sport which has so much contact, men and women play together and everyone thoroughly loves it. It gives me, and I know all of my team mates, and all the clubs across the UK, a real buzz playing it. Your disability is put to the back of your mind and you get into you wheelchair and you train like any other athlete does.
This is not the sort of sport where you can just get a ball and knock it about with your mates in the park. A rugby wheelchair starts at £3,000. Do you know why? Watch this and then you’ll understand.
So to play this sport it’s 4 vs 4, so that’s £24,000 for the rugby wheelchairs, and you have nowhere to play yet, no ball, no equipment, no insurance……nothing!!!!!
You’ve got hall hire costs at £3,000 a year, equipment costing £6,000 and on and on it goes, not forgetting that we have 21 wheelchairs costing in total £63,000.
So, we started this club up with the idea of playing recreationally, getting some players into the league, and playing friendlies. This all happened and we (The Dorset Destroyers) are now one of the Top 5 clubs in the UK for player numbers.
(GBWR source)
Our players are all disabled, and we dream the same dream that people kicking a ball in the park do, or tennis players knocking about at the council tennis courts do, to play for your country (And getting that winning point) 😉
I know so many of you have read my ramblings about what a fantastic sport it is, how it changes peoples lives and the knock on effects are huge (Medically, Family and Work Wise) and so many of you have joined our journey to become the best team in the land, but we also want to be in the colours of Team GB with our fellow countrymen playing against Australia, Canada etc etc in the Paralympics or being able to defend the crown of European Champions…..but it’s been taken away.
This has been a kick in the “gentleman’s area” that really hurts!!!
Trust me, we will be back, we get hit, we get knocked out of our wheelchairs, and we get back up, brush ourselves down and start again.
Even though we are The Dorset Destroyers we still want to be a part of Team GB and we will keep shouting from the sidelines.
