Rugby on wheels takes off for group

Rugby on wheels takes off for group

16 October 2013

A GROUP of local disabled sportsmen are playing a major part in a new wheelchair rugby team which has been set up in Northern Ireland.

The Ulster Babarians Wheelchair Rugby Club has been set up after two years of discussions and includes Downpatrick man, Bernard Rooney, Sean Smyth, from Crossgar, Robert Cullen, from Clough, Deirdre Mongan, from Newcastle, and others from Belfast and Donegal.

Originating in Canada, wheelchair rugby is open to quadriplegics, tetraplegics, people with cerebral palsy and some amputees. There is one other team in Ireland, the Gaelic Warriors in Dublin, and there are plans for another in Cork.

Bernard had been playing for the Gaelic Warriors, travelling down every Wednesday to play, and he began to consider setting up a team in Northern Ireland.

“We put feelers out to Disability Sports NI and had a great response. I got chairs off the warriors and brought them to the Antrim Forum,” said Bernard.

“Wheelchair rugby is one of the best sports for wheelchair users, but its not heard of. “There are an awful lot of people out there in wheelchairs that would enjoy it, but don’t know an awful lot about it.

“You are not allowed to physically touch anyone, but with people ramming into you some people find it tough. You are strapped into the chair and you can’t go anywhere so there is no way you can be hurt anymore than you already are.

“There are four players playing at any time, but we need a total of 12 players to rotate. The idea is to get more interest and help the sport to spread.

“We have been talking to Ulster Rugby to get them onboard and they are very keen,” he said.

Recently the team travelled to Scotland to play five games in their first ever competition against teams with a lot more experience: “We were against the Warriors, two English teams, a Welsh team and a Scottish team,” said Bernard.

“We lost all five games, but everyone in our team played well and mostly it was just lack of experience.

“There are only three in our team who have been playing for a while and the other teams were talking about us as a team for the future.

On Friday, October 18, able bodied players can try the sport at the Antrim Forum, before the Irish Provincial League event is staged the next day.

The Barbarians train every Thursday night, from 6.30-8.30pm, at Loughside Recreation Centre on the Shore Road, in Belfast, and new members are welcome to join.