Bradford College

World Cup Squad Train at College

The England Wheelchair Rugby League Team had their last training session at Bradford College, in preparation for the Inaugural Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup in Sydney, Australia.   The England Wheelchair Tag Rugby League World Cup Squad head out to Sydney next week.

Wheelchair Tag Rugby League is one of the most inclusive sports around and can be played by all athletes. It’s also the fastest developing game of its kind in the UK.  Wheelchair Rugby League is faithful to the rules of Rugby League with five players in each team scoring tries in the same way. Offside, knock-on and in touch applies and conversions are scored by punching the ball from a tee over mini-RL posts. Tackles are made as in tag Rugby League by taking the attached tag (on the players shoulder) and five tackles are followed by a handover of the rugby ball to the opposition. 

Phil Wild, Trinity Green Sports Centre Manager was on hand to watch the training session.  Phil said:  “Eight members of the World Cup Squad were there, alongside training staff, to take part in their last training session before flying out to the World Cup.  It was a great experience and I learnt a bit about how they play.  There’s quite a tough element to the game at this elite level.  At times players can knock each other out of their chairs because they need to make the challenges.  That’s the first time I’ve seen Wheelchair Tag Rugby League and I’ve been really impressed!” 

Phil continued:  “When they’re not passing the ball, it rests on their lap, so they’ve got both hands free to move the wheelchair.  They’re really skilful, and have great chair skills”

Phil went on to add:  “The England Squad is really good.  They’ve trained really hard and their level of commitment and enthusiasm is excellent. It’s great to see a sport that both disabled and able bodied athletes can take part in together.”

The England Squad were delighted to use the state-of-the-art Trinity Green Campus sports facilities.   In addition to the training session, the College set up: a health screening clinic on campus to carry out a general physiotherapy tests, a theory session on opponents/tactics and a fitness session in the gym. Gill Johnson, England WTRL Team Manager and Chair of the British Wheelchair Tag Rugby League Association said of the facilities at Trinity Green: “These superb facilities gave both the team and the support staff the time to work on last minute preparations, including team tactics in privacy.  The conditions were ideal and we’re very grateful for the vital opportunity.  Our deepest thanks go out to all involved in making this training session possible.”

Commenting on the use of our facilities by the England Squad, Jane Marshall, Healthy College Manager said: “It’s a great opportunity to promote the College and for disabled people to use the facilities.”  The College is one of the first in the country to be awarded the Healthy College standard and is committed to promoting health initiatives.

Directorate Project Manager, Ronnie Todd said:  “This is one of a series of initiatives we’re undertaking with National Governing Bodies of Sport to promote the growth of Disability Sport in the City. It ties in with our partnership with the ‘Bradford Disability Sport & Leisure - Equality Through Sport Project,’ driven by Robert Cooper and his team, which will enable the College to establish a Further Education Disability Sports Academy in the New Year.”

World Cup, England Wheelchair Head Coach and Player Phil Roberts spoke with pride about playing for his country, Phil said: “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to represent my country in the World Cup in Australia.  It will be a great experience and one which we’re all looking forward to immensely.  Hopefully the tournament will raise awareness of the sport and will lead to more people becoming involved in Wheelchair Rugby League.”

Phil went on to say:  “The England Squad found the training camp very useful. They were very happy with the facilities, accessibility and the care and consideration from staff.  Everything was taken care of, from the rooms being open and ready, to the disabled facilities being prepped and ready to go.  All the players enjoyed the experience.  The British Wheelchair Rugby League Association is keen to continue working alongside Bradford College, with a look to use Bradford College as one of its elite training venues”

Gill remarked: “With the development of a Bradford team, in conjunction with the Bradford Bulls Foundation and also the teams developing regionally, it’s wonderful to have forged a relationship with the College, which we hope will continue after the World Cup. Having a venue like this is so important with the hope that a Wheelchair Tag Rugby League playing league will come into play in 2009.”

Rugby League Service Area Coordinator for Bradford & Keighley & Tour Manager for the England Wheelchair Rugby League Team, Jo Drapier was delighted with the facilities, Jo said:  “All the team and support team were very impressed, especially with the state of the art facilities, it was great to utilise both sports halls, as this will mirror the facilities we will play in over in Australia for the World Cup.  As well as using the sports hall for the practical training sessions, we were able to utilise the use of the new fitness suite for conditioning work, and classrooms for our theory sessions.”

The England Squad will be competing against teams from around the globe. When asked what Jo thought of England winning the World Cup, Jo replied:  “Confidence is running high throughout the squad!  Although Wheelchair Tag Rugby League is a fairly new sport, however we have had competitive games against France, but this is the first Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup. We are looking forward to playing against Australia, France and the Pacific Islands team, and we are confident we will be returning to England, ‘World Cup’ winners.