Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00:00Hello and welcome to the first of our webinars for the Welsh Rugby Union talking about wheelchair
00:00:13rugby and it's lovely to have you all here today and I'd just like to ask first off our
00:00:18fantastic coaches if you could just give us your names and which team you coach at.
00:00:25Yeah, my name's Chris Garrett. I coached over and was part of the set up for the Dragons
00:00:31based at Cwmbran. It's one of the newer teams.
00:00:35My name's Iain Coombs. I also coach the Dragons. As Chris said, we're a brand new team based
00:00:44in Cwmbran and it's a really exciting time for the club as we move forward in our development
00:00:50really.
00:00:52Hi there, I'm Joy Mohsen and I coach for the Scarlets wheelchair rugby team. We're based
00:00:58in Pembrokeshire.
00:01:00And I'm Nicola and I coach alongside Iain at the Scarlets wheelchair rugby team.
00:01:09Brilliant guys and again, thank you for joining us on the call today. So we've got quite a
00:01:16few things to talk over. First thing for the viewer watching at home and who has clicked
00:01:21on this for the first time, what is wheelchair rugby? So Iain, do you mind kicking us off
00:01:27with that?
00:01:28No problem. So wheelchair rugby was first developed in Canada by a group of athletes
00:01:43with high levels of disability found they couldn't access wheelchair basketball. So
00:01:52they started wheelchair rugby as a way of getting involved in physical sport and it's
00:02:00kind of grown from there really. So the basic principles of wheelchair rugby are that you've
00:02:10got either four or five players on a team and you have 40 seconds to score a goal by
00:02:23rolling over the end line between the two. And the main objective is to score kind of
00:02:37more goals than your opposition. With the Paralympic version known as the fours, you have eight
00:02:47points on court at any one time. So athletes are given a classification for their level of
00:02:55disability and the score adds up to eight across the four players. So yeah, and that's
00:03:07the fours and then the fives. The fives follows exactly the same rules and procedures as the
00:03:15fours tournament. But the fives was developed in the UK as a way of opening up the sport
00:03:22to an increased number of people with various disabilities. The scope to be able to play
00:03:30fives is slightly wider. The only difference there really is that you have five players
00:03:38on court and you have 10 points between those five players, if that makes sense. So again,
00:03:48each individual athlete has a classification and then that can add up to 10. Rolling substitutions
00:03:57so that the game is quite fluid, quite fast. So you have five players on court in fives
00:04:05or fours, four in fours, and then a bench of up to 12 athletes, which you can then use
00:04:13obviously interchangeably. And really, if I could sum up the game in kind of three elements,
00:04:20it would be fast paced, inclusive. I think that's the great thing about wheelchair rugby.
00:04:29So many different disabilities can play, but also can have difficult roles in that, in
00:04:34both offence and defence. And then it all centres around teamwork really. So yeah, that's
00:04:43probably an overview of wheelchair rugby.
00:04:46I think we'll all agree that that was a proper coach's description in the answer there. I
00:04:53mean, in a nutshell, you pretty much covered everything. It's important for people to note
00:04:59that there are those two different formats out there. Whereas the Paralympic format is
00:05:05a little bit more restrictive around specific injuries or disabilities. And then the newer
00:05:11fives format is a bit more open. So there is effectively a place for everyone within
00:05:16the game. So moving along then quite nicely. So Chris, quiz time. Let's talk specifically
00:05:27about Wales. How many wheelchair rugby teams have we got in Wales?
00:05:31So yeah, the Scarlets got two sides, the Ospreys got two sides. We only got a senior team at
00:05:36the moment. We'd like to have a junior team. But of course, there's a bit of support around
00:05:44that that may be needed in the future. And obviously, RGC has just got a senior team
00:05:48up there and they're probably looking for a youth unit there. So all over Wales, I think
00:05:53we covered most of the positions in Wales.
00:05:55Again, quite clear. I agree with what you're saying there, Chris. I think with the WRU
00:06:04and GBWR sort of getting their heads together a little bit, it has been able to help things
00:06:08in Wales a bit. And I was really, really pleased to first off be working with the Scarlets
00:06:13and being there for the launch of you guys. And then seeing the Dragons coming on board,
00:06:18we're starting to get a bit of a full house. And as you alluded to, Chris, we are working
00:06:22alongside GBWR and Cardiff Blues and a number of key stakeholders to help develop the Blues
00:06:32senior and junior team, which, like you said, should hopefully be on the board by the end
00:06:38of this year, if all goes well. And then there'll be even more teams for you guys to play at
00:06:43both levels there without having to travel as far a distance, because we know how expensive
00:06:49it can be with the transit, the chairs and so on and so forth.
00:06:53So that brings me to my next question. So how did you all become involved? What are
00:07:00your personal stories? And can I go to Jane and Nicola first? And then we'll lead through
00:07:05everyone. Brilliant. Thank you.
00:07:09So they came to us through the InSport event. So we first experienced it at the InSport
00:07:17event, and that kind of grew our love for it. It was a really good opportunity.
00:07:22My son, or her sister, has Down's syndrome and was playing wheelchair basketball.
00:07:31But the wheelchair rugby is a bit easier for him. Coordination and everything isn't too good.
00:07:36He's not as fast as with basketball. So the rugby was really good for him.
00:07:44So when the opportunity was there with GBWR and the WRU to start up the team in this area,
00:07:52with our disability sports officer as well, really into doing it, it was a brilliant way
00:07:58of going forward and getting the team down here. It's something else we really wanted
00:08:04to bring to the county, something that we could do. It's a bit different than whatever
00:08:12other sports that are available down here. And again, I absolutely love working with
00:08:18you guys. It's an absolute pleasure to come down and watch your sessions and to see how
00:08:21the players themselves have grown under your tutelage.
00:08:25Iain or Chris, do you want to weigh in? Give us your stories, guys.
00:08:32So I started wheelchair rugby with Ospreys. I actually first attended a training session,
00:08:47I think when I was about 10 years old, but at the time I wasn't able to play.
00:08:54So I went and was involved in athletics for a number of years and then went back to wheelchair
00:09:03rugby and started playing for the Ospreys, I think in 2013, if my memory's right.
00:09:10And just really, really enjoyed it. Like everyone said and mentioned, I really enjoyed the inclusive
00:09:18nature of it. I've also tried basketball and I find that really difficult because of my
00:09:25coordination and dexterity and things like that. And I just love the team ethos and the
00:09:34kind of sense of family it provides. I also think growing up in Wales and being a rugby
00:09:42Welsh-born country, the logical thing for me to do was to play the version of the game that I can
00:09:49and really enjoyed that. So yeah, I was playing for the Ospreys and then the idea of a Dragons
00:09:57team was mentioned and I was really honoured to be asked to be involved with a coaching setup. So
00:10:04yeah, that's how it came about really. And being a Dragons fan since being very young,
00:10:12it was a massive honour for me to be asked to be involved with our wheelchair team.
00:10:16And again, I think that's one of the goals, Jai, is when we looked at it with GBWR, we really
00:10:24wanted to have more doorstep sports. So if you are a Dragons supporter, it gives you the
00:10:30ability to feel part of that Dragons family by going to your team rather than having to
00:10:34travel all that distance, you know what I mean, cart your equipment or whatever it may be. So
00:10:39that's part of it and getting involved through the Wales. Chris?
00:10:45Yeah, I suppose my story is slightly different. I work for the Welsh Tribunal as a
00:10:52development officer. I also work for, at the time they were Newport, a professional rugby team. So
00:10:58people such as Mike Sage, Greg Woods and a lot of people in the Welsh Tribunal and the Dragons
00:11:04I've known for a long, long time. So them connections have certainly helped in being
00:11:12able just to basically pick up the phone in relation to the setup of the Dragons. But
00:11:17my current role, I work as a disability sports officer for, I'm based in Blaenau Gwent, but we
00:11:23also got an active Gwent group and we identified through talking to people like Jai and
00:11:30that, and the Welsh Tribunal, that, you know, the Dragons would be set to do it.
00:11:37GBWR supported us with the wheelchairs and support of the developments of Akira.
00:11:44So it basically all came together. My sort of involvement really was working with
00:11:51people such as yourself to do in-sport series events and promote it and work to it.
00:11:57Thank you for that, Chris. And it's great to hear all your stories about how you got involved.
00:12:02And again, what comes through mainly is your passion for the sport, even if you're quite
00:12:07new to the sport or like Jai and you've been involved with it since you were like 10 years old.
00:12:12You know, so that's amazing. So I got a question for Nicola and Jaine. Could you tell me
00:12:20what type of players could play youth wheelchair rugby and also give us a little bit of a
00:12:27description of other types of players that you've got down at the Scarletts?
00:12:33So the main thing is that as a club, we'll take anyone that wants to join. It doesn't matter if
00:12:40you're able-bodied, have a physical disability, a learning disability, you can join them.
00:12:48Yeah, we're fully inclusive. Anybody comes along, brothers and sisters that are part of a family
00:12:54that's got a disabled person, it allows them to play together, allows them perhaps to have the
00:13:00ability to do a sport together rather than one go off and do their sport and one go off and do
00:13:08rugby, sort of the wheelchair rugby. We like to bring the club together like that.
00:13:15As far as the club, we range from a few behaviourals. So we've had kids that
00:13:21have come into us and they have not been able to interact. They get a bit moody and over time we
00:13:28can help them work through their problems and work along them through sports. And then you've got some
00:13:36physical disabilities like cerebral palsy, anything we can play wheelchair rugby.
00:13:44Yeah, it's been great to see some of the children that have had behavioural issues come initially,
00:13:52difficult even keeping them in the chair to start off with
00:13:56because of their behaviour over the weeks, over the months, then because
00:14:02their behaviour changes completely. It's brilliant to see them work as a team, whereas at the start
00:14:12they just wanted to do their own thing and if they weren't allowed to do their own thing,
00:14:16they didn't want to be part of it. But their change over the weeks and months has been
00:14:21absolutely brilliant to see what the effect it's had on them. So moving on then,
00:14:27Iain and Chris, I'm going to pick on you next. So I'd like you to talk us through who can
00:14:33play senior wheelchair rugby and also about the really interesting range of players that you've
00:14:40got down at the Dragons. And I'm giggling a bit because some of you guys are real characters.
00:14:45Really anybody with a physical disability can currently play
00:14:54senior wheelchair rugby. And like Chris alluded to earlier, at the Dragons anybody's
00:15:04welcome to come down and have a look. Anybody's welcome to give us a call and say do you think
00:15:10I'd be applicable or be able to? And I think the real thing for me is that you,
00:15:18it's getting individuals and families and etc to actually see it because there's only a certain
00:15:26amount I can explain on the phone or through an email or something. But actually getting people
00:15:36in to see the sport, even if they just watch for the first couple of weeks,
00:15:41is the real key because I think then they can see for themselves that actually
00:15:47it's a fully inclusive sport. And it's not just inclusive because everybody can take part. It's
00:15:54inclusive because people can take part but they also have a meaningful role in the team,
00:16:01whether that's as an offensive player, defensive player, as a rolling sub, everybody has a crucial
00:16:10role to play at different times. And sometimes people may approach me and say can I just come
00:16:20down for, just to be part of, one of our new members just said I just want to be part of
00:16:26something since my injury I've never been part of a unit. And we said look if you come down,
00:16:35even if you just want a coffee and a chat with the boys and a bit of a laugh then that's fine
00:16:41with us. Ironically he's in a chair within 10 minutes so that shows that the sport really does
00:16:48have an appeal. So yeah, just to kind of recap really, I think anybody with a physical disability
00:16:56is able to play seniors at present and our policy is, you know, we welcome everybody and
00:17:04let's have a chat, let's get you in a chair, let's get you enjoying the sport.
00:17:10Yeah for me Dara, I think that the biggest thing that I have seen is the mindset that we're
00:17:16going in with. It's a game for everybody, we're there to support everybody, everybody's
00:17:22treated the same, everybody's treated the ability. We have got some, certainly got some characters,
00:17:26we got some people that perhaps haven't played in the team before. So we got a guy who was CP
00:17:33and the only sport he'd ever done before was pool, he played a bit of pool and the only reason he was
00:17:39there really because he was bringing his daughter down to the roller skating that was on the court
00:17:44next to us. He seen us, he came over, he started chatting, we got him in and, you know, he really
00:17:51enjoyed the part. It was a shock to him because again, you know, we're treating people about the
00:17:58ability, about what he could do and his sort of transformation from being, you know, just a guy
00:18:05watching and wondering what he was to the fact that he's actually playing now, you know, at
00:18:12whatever level, it isn't so much important to us. It's about, I think, early days we said
00:18:18this scheme that, look, if we go in about just winning, we are never going to get a team
00:18:26that will do it. If we put the environment right, if we can get a good
00:18:32environment, a good learning environment where they all enjoy themselves and they're learning
00:18:38something, I think that's the biggest thing. People such as, we've got a, that was introduced
00:18:44to us through DSW and Heather Lewis and that sort of organisation. We've got a chaplain
00:18:51that's part of us and he's fantastic Darren. He's from Cwmbran, he's a chaplain, he gives a
00:18:57lot of support technically, so he's switched on with the meetings the guys have, the Zoom
00:19:05meetings they have and everything like that, but also he's also part of the team, very much part
00:19:10of the team, even though he'll never play, you know, he comes and supports in other ways as well.
00:19:16We've got people such as a student that has come in with us through his university and he's
00:19:24just blossomed and he's a great coach anyway, which is good for us. That leads us perfectly
00:19:31into my next question, which I want to open out to the floor, you know, what are the, I don't know,
00:19:38the benefits, I suppose, for these players or for anyone that wants to get involved with wheelchair rugby?
00:19:45Fun way to socialise with people whilst also learning a new school skills.
00:19:51They learn so much from being part of a team, not just the game and the rules and that sort of thing,
00:19:59but they also learn how to work together and we try and make it fun for them, so they come and have
00:20:06fun. They don't realise that they're learning, to be honest, that's what they're doing, they're
00:20:10just having fun, they're playing a game, they're enjoying it and at the end of the day they're
00:20:17go home happy, we hope, we think we do, with a smile on their face, they're smiling, that's what we hope.
00:20:23I think for a start it's a case of just, do you know what I mean, get the players well being good,
00:20:31get them feeling good about themselves and I think the winning then will take care of
00:20:37itself and that side of it. It's basically, you know, letting people understand that no matter
00:20:43the disability, there's a place for them.
00:20:49There's not really much I can add there, but it's all about the overall well-being, so there's
00:20:57physical, obviously physical benefits, you know, increases in cardiovascular fitness,
00:21:04muscle strength, things like that, but also the impact that can have then on making other day-to-day
00:21:11tasks easier, so people are able then to, I don't know, if they're transferring into a wheelchair, it
00:21:16becomes easier because they're working on those skills in a wheelchair rugby session.
00:21:22The emotional well-being of everybody, I think that wheelchair rugby has a massive,
00:21:28massively positive impact on emotional well-being and the social activity
00:21:36that goes along with that. Even for some of our members, it could be
00:21:41one of the few occasions they have contact with other people in a week, so
00:21:48it's really about, like Chris said, the overall physical, emotional and social well-being.
00:21:56To be honest, I'm glad you capped it off there as both a player and a coach.
00:22:02It is, it's on-pitch, off-pitch and also it's about the group of people that we're
00:22:09working with, you know, our players, you know what I mean, don't get very many opportunities, so
00:22:17and it's like you said, you know, like to be part of something, you know, that in itself is bigger
00:22:23than the sport, you know, we could almost go as far as to say that we're in the realms of
00:22:31personal growth, we use the medium of sport. I think we pretty much covered things here.
00:22:41What I would like to ask now, and Jane, if I could pick your brains on this and then
00:22:48Iain and Chris, if you could jump back in, what has been your journey like from inception,
00:22:54hey we're going to set up this team and getting involved, to where you are now?
00:23:01It's been quite a long road, we've had quite a bit of help as a disability sports officer,
00:23:10was absolutely brilliant getting it up and running, obviously along with GBWR and WRU,
00:23:18everything. As I say, I started out originally trying to find something for my son to do that
00:23:25was something he could cope with and just wanted to help out and do everything I possibly could to
00:23:33get this up and running. Once we got the chairs off of GBWR to have a trial and have them in so
00:23:44that we could actually start doing something and we had our coach then ready to go, that was it,
00:23:52we were off, you know, we had children wanting to come in, we had those sorts of people really
00:23:58interested in it and that sort of thing. I took on the role then of looking after the chairs and
00:24:06sort of being the odd job person sort of thing, doing whatever was needed and that sort of thing.
00:24:12Nicola was helping coach at the time,
00:24:18just as things went on we just persevered, we got so many people coming, children especially
00:24:26coming and really enjoying it that we then realised that we needed a second coach
00:24:34that was going to be more reliable than the one that we had, unfortunately his job kept
00:24:40him away quite a bit. So Nicola was going to be taking on the coaching course alongside our
00:24:49wheelchair basketball coach as well, he was going to do it. Unfortunately he pulled out at the last
00:24:54minute for the course, so I took his place and that's where I ended up on the course with you lot.
00:25:03But I haven't looked back since then, I mean the whole thing about coaching anybody and doing it is
00:25:14how much they have improved and how much, especially when we took the team up to the
00:25:21Junior Championships, that was such an experience for everybody. They'd never been in any competition
00:25:29before, they'd never been out of the county before, some of the kids to go up there and do that
00:25:35and they just, they made us proud. They did so well, they behaved themselves so well
00:25:42and to come away from there with a silver medal, as you can imagine we were over the moon.
00:25:48So it's been what, two years doing this but it's been great two years, it has and we've had a lot
00:25:57of support from people around us and we've got some great helpers in the club. One of the young
00:26:04players, well he was young but he's obviously been with us for a few years now
00:26:10and he's coming on really well as a helper with the juniors. He helps coach, he helps
00:26:19with everybody, I mean he has a learning difficulty himself but to see him forget about that
00:26:28and take part in help coaching and help with the juniors is really good. So hopefully in
00:26:36time he may go on to actually coach himself.
00:26:39Fantastic and Jairo, Chris, do you want to jump in?
00:26:42So the gym for us started, I think February 2019 and initially started as like a
00:26:56like a trial project. So we were just putting on sessions to first establish whether there was an
00:27:04interest. At the start it was, as any new club does, I think you've got to go through a journey of
00:27:12getting the name out there, getting the idea and the logistics and
00:27:20understanding what would work for our athletes and for everybody involved in our club. I think it's
00:27:28really poignant to note that without the support of volunteers and obviously last week's
00:27:36Volunteers Week, it's no exaggeration to say without the support of that and all the
00:27:44passion of the team behind us that we simply wouldn't exist. So that may play a massive part.
00:27:52So yeah, to start this trial sessions and it's grown steadily like in terms of numbers.
00:28:06It's probably got, it's a really nice problem to have but it's a problem all the same that we've
00:28:12currently got I think 11 or 12 regular participants every week which is fantastic
00:28:20but then at the same time it gives us equipment headaches and dilemmas about what we do with
00:28:28chairs and things. But like I said, it's a fantastic problem to have and it's really
00:28:37we will get through. The development of everybody in the team has been
00:28:44exceptional. So we actually played a game in November 2019 against Bristol Bears and it was a
00:28:56real learning curve for the boys about how fast and high tempo the game is and just how tactically
00:29:06it is. I think sometimes when people watch wheelchair rugby that you're perhaps unless
00:29:12you're involved in the game don't understand how many times in the game itself. So that was
00:29:19a real eye-opener and the boys did really well but it was kind of at that time kind of
00:29:28giving them and being realistic with them and saying look we're really early in this journey
00:29:33boys. We're really, really early. This is stage one and keeping them on board and keeping them
00:29:41engaged and then probably the proudest moment for me is we went back just before the lockdown
00:29:49came into force to play Bristol and I'm sure Chris will agree we were exceptional
00:29:58and for me to watch that development and watch how the team understand each other and play together
00:30:05was brilliant and really looking forward to now going later this year and hopefully in the next
00:30:10year we'll be joining the GWR leagues and just watching our progress. But I think it's really
00:30:18key to say that without the support of so many partners and so many volunteers and also the
00:30:25dedication of the boys as well. They're always really keen to learn and I think that is what
00:30:31has got us to where we are is the dedication and the learning of so many. Yeah I think my learning
00:30:38learning from it guys is the fact that because I've been involved with setting up rugby clubs
00:30:43years ago and involved in in that setup I understand that it's tough for people to come
00:30:49into a new environment and then invest so much of their time in it. So in relation to the off-field
00:30:56stuff as a committee as such you know it was quite tough to get people to buy into the fact
00:31:01oh look we need to have an officer and I think you know that took a bit of pushing but I mean
00:31:07it's up and running now and you know they're all there for the right reasons and they're all there
00:31:13to further the club as such but that is a difficult part of it so anybody that is
00:31:19starting up will find that as a bit of an option because you're asking them to invest something
00:31:24that they don't really know what they're investing in at the start so you put a lot of
00:31:29time and effort into it. I know the girls down west you know the time they put into it and
00:31:35basically if Nicola hadn't you know if the coach hadn't been there she had gone she wouldn't
00:31:40have been a coach now and these things like that happen all the time you know the people that we
00:31:45got involved you know these guys haven't been involved a lot of these guys haven't been involved
00:31:50in committees before a lot these guys have been involved in the sort of setups that we need and
00:31:55understanding the dynamics of running a team as in funding as in you know child protection as in
00:32:03as in CRBs coaching qualifications so it all has a learning process for us but again I'll
00:32:10only back what Ian said you know the support of the volunteers and the support of people
00:32:14the network around us has been fantastic and I think it's quite easy for somebody to come
00:32:19and get involved because we make it that environment right and I think that the sport
00:32:25does I think the sport is open to people it obviously it obviously needs you know an
00:32:33investment by a lot of people and a lot of stakeholders you know the Dragons I mean it was
00:32:37only a couple of weeks ago that we got the Dragons strength and conditioning coach to give the boys
00:32:42like a webinar talk or give the boys a zoom call about the about lockdown what can I do
00:32:48nutrition you know how does their nutrition work with their medication how does he what can I do to
00:32:54keep this sort of this self sort of mentally and physically in a bit of shape and we talked about
00:33:00diets and diets obviously some of these guys in wheelchairs the diets affects their medication
00:33:05affects their diet and different things you know and that was a real positive move as well and a
00:33:11positive you know from the Dragons that was fantastic from them as well so you know yourselves
00:33:16and the WRU we can only thank them and like I said yeah I said you know we're still
00:33:22young in our story and Wales as a country you know our long-term aim would be you know why can't we
00:33:30get a Welsh team you know why can't we get a Welsh team that can play against England and Scotland
00:33:34and Ireland you know why can't we do a six nations why can't we you know that's the future down the
00:33:40road but at the moment it's you know I think we're going in the right way we've got the right people
00:33:44on board and the right organizations really. Great all-rounded answers from everyone there
00:33:50on that brings me nicely into our next question so we talked a lot about the game and how awesome
00:33:56it is you know and the growth of the teams you know for example you guys going from that inception
00:34:01to be playing competitive matches and that experience but what does a wheelchair rugby
00:34:06session look like? Our sessions start off with a bit of a fun warm-up so a game that is a little
00:34:13bit silly a little bit fun gets everyone active gets everyone attention that to begin with and
00:34:20then it's a bit of a technical drills in the middle that you can don't realize that you're
00:34:25doing them sometimes it's a bit fun we try and blame everything on fun and then at the end we
00:34:32have a game which we try and incorporate the skills that you've learned already and try and make sure
00:34:39that you use them in the game. We sort of understood quite quickly that with it with the
00:34:44timings of it it was 12 minutes hours if you like our guys wasn't fit enough to play 12 minutes so
00:34:51we tried to work stuff around 12 minutes now the one session we go was an egg timer basically it's
00:34:58like a big egg time I use for other other projects I use it on so it's a 10 minute egg timer so they
00:35:04had to work continuously that keep their wheels going for 10 minutes which is quite tough in a
00:35:10closed closed environment and we couldn't hit each other if they hit each other I turn I would turn
00:35:18turn the egg timer over and start again so that that caused a little bit of a interesting
00:35:24conversation but at the end of the day you know they were they were going they were pushing their
00:35:28wheels for 12 minutes which they hadn't done and then if I'd done that exercise perhaps you know a
00:35:33month or six weeks before that I don't think they would have done it so we we we have seen that sort
00:35:38of that fitness element and that sort of learning element for that you know massively improve and
00:35:45I'm sure Iain will will will back that up as well in what what he has done you know.
00:35:50Yeah I can honestly say Chris it's been a while since I've done and I still haven't recovered mate
00:35:55so yeah but for us guys it's we try and do a kind of training blocks so we might
00:36:09might section off say six weeks and say well this six weeks we want to be a technical block
00:36:16or a fitness block or it might be a game focus block if we're coming up to a tournament
00:36:21so but generally our session starts with a bit of team fitness one of the other coaches
00:36:29Lyndon does a there's a fantastic job on that and then we we go into some technical skills
00:36:34so it might be passing or chair mobility and then we you've got obviously your defensive
00:36:45drills so you're picking you're blocking and like Chris said I think one of the things
00:36:53there is is as a coach is how you can use the the space to make it hard it's similar to the to the
00:37:04task sorry space acronym where where you look at changing the the setup of a drill or and that
00:37:14that really I think I think the key for our guys is to keep the keep the sessions
00:37:21interesting moving along and progressive one of the one of the things I'm looking forward to
00:37:30after lockdown is we were starting to do a bit of breakout things as well so if we were in a game
00:37:39and we noticed that a that a particular error was creeping up quite a bit whether we weren't
00:37:45hitting the inbound successfully or just as we were coming towards a goal a pass goes adrift
00:37:54we try and do a bit of breakout so you've got right we take the whole team out we run it as
00:38:00it as a drill and then we put them straight back into a game environment and I think it's about
00:38:05being being open-minded and you know trying different things and a couple of weeks ago I
00:38:14attended a webinar by GBWR about the importance of putting things into game specific environments
00:38:23because ultimately we can learn how to do drills for hours and hours and hours but if you can't put
00:38:28them into a game specific element then you don't know if it's going to be successful or your work
00:38:35I think one of the other things that I'm really keen to pass on to the athletes is that
00:38:43the importance of understanding the game themselves and generating their own learning
00:38:49so it might be that sometimes we go back to the guys as we say oh how do you think we could run
00:38:57that how do you think you could beat the block and that is useful because it generates ideas
00:39:03within the group and you've almost got a developing quite naturally is like a leadership
00:39:09group on the field which obviously as a coach you can only you can only have your input at end of
00:39:15end of halves or end of quarters so having that leadership on court to say actually guys this
00:39:21isn't working we need to change it is really powerful I think it gives the boys a sense of
00:39:28responsibility and a sense of ownership over their learning which I think is really powerful.
00:39:36Brilliant and again some really really good answers there some of the some of the key
00:39:41points for me really when you're working with the younger groups being fun and engaging
00:39:46and using that magic that we've got as coaches to be able to dress up our skills in a fun and
00:39:53engaging way so we're making the participants learn without really thinking that they're learning
00:39:57because who wants to learn really and the other thing is as Chris and Jaim were alluding to as
00:40:03well is you know like trying to have that focus on on being game centric so you know putting it in
00:40:10that game scenario and making it applicable so people think and then lastly as Jaim was just
00:40:14mentioning there which I think is brilliant is trying to get the learner that the the participant
00:40:20the player to think for themselves you know to really come up with the answers themselves because
00:40:26us as coaches and we're all coaches here when we're on the sideline and the game's going on it's
00:40:30down to the player to come up with uh with those answers you know so it really develops them from
00:40:35all different angles that's fantastic guys um next one up then um let's talk a little bit about you
00:40:41know what sort of barriers um you've faced. For me I think the biggest barriers obviously is finance
00:40:47finance um it is an expensive sport there's no doubt about it I mean there's there's not a
00:40:53massive amount of support around to to offer um you know the guys when they go they play away they
00:41:00stay away for the weekends as they got to put up their own sort of funding um and different things
00:41:05you know and and this is sort of well known it isn't sort of behind so uh financially is is is
00:41:12is a it is definitely a problem I think the last thing we want is somebody to start playing because
00:41:18you can't afford to do that yeah finance has been an issue getting our chairs getting that money
00:41:25because they do cost a lot the chairs but another barrier for us was our senior group trying to get
00:41:33that set up because we are quite far away from other teams so if we want to go play friendly
00:41:42matches it is quite a difficult thing to do to travel out and get that all sorted but it's also
00:41:51a bit of a barrier between who can actually play for seniors because it is more aimed towards
00:41:57physical disabilities with us our group is a lot more a mix of behavioral and learning and a few
00:42:06physical disabilities so getting a team that can actually go play has been quite a difficult
00:42:14process for us we also look into the future that the juniors that we've got now are up and coming
00:42:21will be going into seniors and what is the possibility of their ability to play
00:42:27you know a child with autism going on as an adult with autism will he still be allowed to play
00:42:34wheelchair rugby I mean he's going to be able to play with us that's not going to be a problem
00:42:38we'll never turn anybody away but will there be competitions that they can ever go and join in
00:42:43with and that sort of thing that's one question that we are still working on to be honest but we
00:42:50would like to be able to say to them yes you know when there's competitions you'll be allowed to be
00:42:55able to join in with us still because they're joining in now with the juniors competitions
00:43:00competitions will they still be able to play and join in so that's something we're looking
00:43:07forward to the future of if the game is going to progress to enjoy them they can carry on enjoying
00:43:14it as well yeah and I think I think most of them have been covered there but I think also
00:43:24one of the things that has been has been like a barrier and a difficulty to get past sometimes is
00:43:34that is that it's a long game in terms of you know some of the boys are really keen and their
00:43:47motivation is really high and then because obviously it takes us a time to get into the
00:43:53leagues and like Chris was saying get our foundation sound and our channels established
00:44:03so we made the decision not to enter the the league last year because we felt that foundations
00:44:10wise financial and the infrastructure around the club wasn't quite as strong as we'd like at that
00:44:17point to go ahead and and commit to a league and we did have to manage you know that people were
00:44:26going to training quite a bit but it wasn't at that time like a like an end goal of like a
00:44:33competitive game and so I think it's just I think one of the biggest things is managing expectations
00:44:41we've come on massively and really really well but we still are relatively new to this whole thing
00:44:52and I mean you look at the the Ospreys they obviously they were the pirates before becoming
00:45:00the Ospreys but they're a club that's over 25 years old so it's kind of saying that to the
00:45:06boys sometimes that actually yeah okay we feel we've been doing this a year but we still
00:45:11have got a long way to go and so it's it's but I think also I think what helps with that is
00:45:18about being being open and transparent with people and saying look look guys I think we're in really
00:45:25good shape. You know that that was one of the reasons why it was so important to speak to
00:45:30your two teams as the two newest wheelchair rugby teams in Wales you know and you know
00:45:37the most of these barriers will be more prevalent during these early years while you're
00:45:43becoming established you know so it's a lot more fresh for you you know there are sponsors out
00:45:50there you know there are players out there you know and I'm hoping that with you know like things
00:45:56like what we're doing today and with us working in partnership with regions with GBWR that we
00:46:02can help raise the profile you know in Wales and engage those individuals because you know like the
00:46:09more numbers we can bring in you know the more we can shine a spotlight on you guys the more
00:46:14successful it's going to be and the more we can help break down these barriers. So that brings me
00:46:19nicely on to my next question which would be you know what is your highlight if you could pick
00:46:25one thing from your whole journey you know what would be the highlight for you
00:46:32as a coach within your team? I think for me it would be that the way that you know in
00:46:43January, February 2019 these were just a group of guys and a group of people coming together
00:46:51to play a sport. I'll be honest at that time you know you are you do wonder whether
00:47:00whether this will take off. Thankfully it has and it's flown and
00:47:10gone way beyond what I thought we'd be at at this stage in our development
00:47:15and I think that the highlight for me is how everybody within the club, players, coaches,
00:47:26pastoral support has bought into the cause and we've got a real family that goes much further
00:47:35than like Chris said much further than just a sport and just a training time. It's a real
00:47:42ethos and togetherness and I think that that's a massive highlight and now also being able to
00:47:51to give you know when the boys have worked really really hard in training and things like that to
00:47:57give them those competitive opportunities is another another highlight. So I think the team
00:48:02ethos, the overall team ethos and everything around Dragons Wheelchair Rugby is something
00:48:08I'm incredibly proud of but also now being able to reward that hard work and that dedication with
00:48:18now looking at competitive opportunities you know.
00:48:26Yeah I think for me like I said I back up everything Ian says there. I think for me it's
00:48:30about the stakeholders really. It's about how we have worked together. The players sometimes don't
00:48:36understand that the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes and and just the preparation
00:48:41but also the you know how sort of positive the stakeholders are. DSW, you know WIU, GWBR,
00:48:54KIDA, you know the centres. Everybody sort of are quite willing and very sort of open to the
00:49:02fact yeah all right they may not work this week or you know can we cancel next week because of
00:49:06weather. You know they're really open to support and I don't think we've hit a lot of negativity
00:49:11with our support. It's just that we need to ensure that you know we keep the
00:49:17stakeholders as part of the journey if you know what I mean. So they come along with us.
00:49:22They see where we are going. We've got sponsors for our first kit and the guy had never heard
00:49:29basically the Dragons have got a sponsor but the guy had never heard of wheelchair rugby
00:49:33personally but he came up with his wife to the session. We met him down in Newport at the launch
00:49:39and then he came up to a session and he thoroughly enjoyed it you know and he you know similar to him
00:49:44he wants to be part of the journey. So you know I think if we can make the environment right and if
00:49:48we can make the people in that enjoy it then people would want to be part of it. It's like
00:49:55everything else you know and I suppose it is related to the Dragons rugby. I think they are
00:50:00sort of changing their sort of culture and environment now. It's similar you know and even
00:50:05if you can jump on a little bit of the back of that I think it's going to be it's going to be
00:50:09beneficial for us all you know and we all want to be part of it. We you know we got the names of our
00:50:15Welsh rugby teams and that's what we want to do. You know these guys would never thought they would
00:50:20have gone out and represented you know the region. I'm sure the Scarlet girls are very proud
00:50:26down there and the guys down there are very proud of the fact that the Scarlets, the Ospreys are the
00:50:30same, RGC the same. You know we all want to be part of the Cardiff guys. They'll be exactly the same.
00:50:36You know it's putting our identity to us as well. We you know we ain't just wheelchairs now
00:50:40we're Dragons players and that is the high spot for me really. I agree with all of that
00:50:47to be honest. For me my highlight has got to be when we had a very challenging session and one
00:50:55of the kids afterwards came up to me and said thank you and I was not expecting that because
00:51:00it was a nightmare but it was great to see that he enjoyed it and that you know what we do
00:51:09is helping and they that they're enjoying themselves throughout it all. Yeah I think
00:51:15there's much the same to be honest to see the children and they do actually turn around and
00:51:21say thank you at the end of the thing or they've enjoyed it but the other thing is I think sometimes
00:51:26you don't often speak to the parents because sometimes the parents just let the children come
00:51:31in because it's their little space. They come down and they come in and they they're doing it
00:51:36but sometimes you'll get from the parents just the odd comment like of you do absolutely
00:51:42brilliant with the kids what you're doing is brilliant and that just makes it feel like you've
00:51:47you've done something you know you you enjoy we enjoy doing it anyway but just getting that little
00:51:53bit of feedback from the parents even if it's a message on the on the Facebook or something like
00:51:59that just thanking us and that sort of thing you realize that yeah otherwise they're enjoying it
00:52:05when they're there and they're laughing but they're obviously enjoying it when they go home
00:52:10and tell their parents about what they've been doing as well so that's that's the good bit it's
00:52:14not just when they're there they're obviously carrying it on when it go home so that's that's
00:52:21the best bit about it really. Great answers guys and you know I have to I have to agree as a as a
00:52:30coach you know like we're you know people people tend to forget we are you know volunteers you know
00:52:38and we do it because we love it and it really does fuel us and keep us going even when we start
00:52:44getting a little bit tired um when you get that odd comment or when you see the development in a
00:52:49player you see them improve as an individual um you know it's absolutely amazing we talked about
00:52:57um players development and how you know that cheese us up and and that but where do we see
00:53:04the game developing in Wales that's my next question
00:53:12hopefully it'll develop into more opportunities for our players to interact with the other clubs
00:53:20and get more experience playing games but also to get a bit more well known especially
00:53:28within our county that we need them to know that there is a wheelchair rugby team
00:53:34and that we are the scarlets as well it must be the same for you guys that
00:53:38once someone hears about it it's amazing that they actually realize that it's a quite a difficult
00:53:44sport to do it's not simple and it's a lot of fun spreading hopefully it will spread
00:53:52and we can get a little bit more knowledge about it yeah I mean we found we did we were
00:53:58lucky the scarlets let us join in with their um road show when they were at the Pembrokeshire
00:54:04county show last year and that was brilliant to see um the reaction to quite a few people
00:54:11to see in the rugby chairs they didn't even know what they were um some people wouldn't even go
00:54:17near a wheelchair because they thought that they weren't allowed in a wheelchair if they weren't
00:54:21disabled quite weird and then when they did have a go in them realized how difficult it was
00:54:30and realized that it's not as easy as it looks on tv when they see these guys whizzing around
00:54:38in these chairs at high speed and with a ball as well they were having difficulty just moving the
00:54:44things around so it was great to see different people having a having the opportunity to you
00:54:51have a look at the game and you know it'd be great to get more people involved like that
00:54:55wheelchair rugby um can have um a far
00:55:03much bigger impact than just just a sporting uh on the sporting landscape I think it can be
00:55:10it can be an engine and a and a tool to uh keep um keep addressing uh you know uh the issues and
00:55:20and the stereotypes around disability and and really demonstrate to people that um
00:55:28uh you know that people with disabilities can achieve and and can really go on to do great
00:55:32things so I think it can be used as a tool to really break down those stereotypes um address
00:55:39um that perhaps the inequalities that that exist um and continue continuous great work on the
00:55:49sporting uh landscape but also much a lot wider than that as well if that makes sense
00:55:59that's great um so so again I mean like you know I agree you know we've all got the same
00:56:04sort of um world views on on this and you know as somebody that sort of stands back and look at
00:56:10looks at um the game from a national perspective I mean like you know we are really keen on
00:56:17promoting and shining a light on the game in partnership with GBWR you know because that
00:56:22in itself is going to drive more players towards you more sponsors make you more vibrant more
00:56:26successful um also you know our aim is to have a full house so we want every single one of our
00:56:32regions to have a senior and a junior team and to have a fives and a Paralympic team so there's
00:56:38there are those elements those formats there for the players to be able to go into and we are
00:56:43working on a um on an all wales competition was something that would run annually and you know
00:56:49and hopefully that would be something that we'd be able to talk about a little more in the future
00:56:53now I'm glad uh to say that we are now finally coming up to our last question because I know
00:56:59this has been a bit of a marathon but I really appreciate your enthusiasm so all I all I want
00:57:05to ask is because you know thinking about the the type of people that are going to be watching this
00:57:10um what would be your advice to any uh coach or potential volunteer potential coach or um or
00:57:18potential player I may you know be watching this now and thinking oh you know what I want to get
00:57:24involved in wheelchair rugby I think it's quite simple really you will get more out of the game
00:57:30than you'll put into it uh as in friendship groups as in fitness as in well-being there's a lot more
00:57:36positives to the to the sport than the negatives yes you may get smashed of your chair a couple
00:57:41of times and you may find it a little bit you know the first like couple of times that happens
00:57:46a bit of a shock um but then again you know it's all part of the learning and you're not putting
00:57:52that position until you're fit enough and strong enough and and brave enough to do it so it does
00:57:57take a bit of courage to do but going into any sport uh it takes courage into any environment
00:58:04and you know you still takes courage and and I think that the people that that we deal with
00:58:10wheelchair users perhaps you know uh could be acquired or could be uh genetic you know is we
00:58:17get that we get that sort of format they used to challenges anyway so it is a challenge but I think
00:58:23that it is well worth giving it a go um and if the environment's right then the friends are right you
00:58:28know you could make friends and partners for life so yeah yeah I would definitely say go for that
00:58:34and be brave and just come and give it a go. We welcome anybody to come and join in and take part
00:58:42in whatever they want to do so they want to come in and play they want to come in and just watch
00:58:46they want to come in and help they're invited to just come along um we've had people come along
00:58:54and I think same Chris said the same thing with them they've had people come along and just sit
00:58:58and watch for a bit and then next thing is they're in the chair and they're playing it seems to be
00:59:03that once they see somebody doing it they can't resist they once they're in the chair that's it
00:59:08they're off so if you get invited to go or if you find a club in your area the best thing to do is
00:59:15just find out when it is and go along and introduce yourself and uh I think you'll find it'll just go
00:59:22from there I think the main thing is take each session as it comes along enjoy each one and
00:59:29you'll get something out of it um I think I think um what I would say is is quite simple it it's
00:59:38it will change your life it will for the positive um whether that's getting involved
00:59:44um as a player as a as a member of coaching team um as a as you know pastoral support and support
00:59:53behind off and behind the scenes um I think that um like like Jane said that when certainly like
01:00:04like when I've spoken to people there's only a certain amount you can get across in a phone call
01:00:10or in an email um but simply come um and and have a look for yourself there's there's no pressure
01:00:18um from our point of view you can you can come down just for the um the social enjoyment being
01:00:25part of a group um you can come down and and play um even if it's just playing within training
01:00:33um or you can you can follow that that interest um to to a to a high level a GB level um
01:00:42or um or you can uh you can be part of the the over the at the overall team and
01:00:50um behind the scenes team and make a real difference um and yeah it's it will change your
01:00:58life um they like I said there's no there's no pressure no expectation to just come down and uh
01:01:06take a look and uh and become part of become part of the wheelchair rugby family I think that's
01:01:12also great about it is there's a real family ethos throughout throughout all the wheelchair
01:01:19rugby um teams and events that I've been involved in there's a real um connection camaraderie and
01:01:25come along and enjoy that would be would be my advice