by Louise Harrison
TEAM Ireland Wheelchair Rugby Sevens are recruiting new players and volunteer coaches to develop the game in Limerick as part of its strategy to have three regional teams competing on a regular basis by the end of the year.
Despite the fact that they have only been in existence since April 2013, the Irish team has already won the Triple Crown and finished third overall in the inaugural Six Nations Wheelchair Rugby tournament in France.
Team members come from all over Ireland and from a variety of sporting backgrounds to train twice a month at the Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) headquarters in Clontarf. The only prerequisite is that participants must be over 16 years of age. It is open to male and female athletes and is a fully inclusive game.
Last year’s team captain, Limerick’s James McCarthy, said that in order to bring the game to the next level, it is vital to bring the game to the provinces and to set up an inter-provincial series
A former shot put champion, James retired from athletics last season having competed for 31 years at national and international level. He is now focusing on coaching and plays wheelchair basketball with the Scorpions and wheelchair hurling with Treaty Warriors.
He said: “I love rugby. It’s a passion all my life as it was bred into me growing up, so I want to do all I can to make the sport grow. I owe it to my national team to make us the best we can be at all levels.
“For some of us who are rugby mad, we now have the opportunity to play a sport we never thought we could. This sport has everything the able-bodied game has.
“The other benefit is that you learn a new game, you learn what it is like to be part of a team, training hard, working together, trusting each other. It gives you more confidence and also the biggest benefit is that you have the chance to represent your country.
“You don’t even need to have perfect wheelchair skills; you will learn these at training. You just have to be able to catch and pass and everything else will be taught. We have invites to club tournaments in the UK so this would be something I’d love to bring a Munster team to.
“As we don’t receive funding from the Irish Sports Council, sponsorship would be always something we will look for, so if any of the clubs around wanted to support us in any way, whether with balls or kits or anything, we won’t say no.”
