The Ospreys senior team may be on the road to Gloucester this weekend but there is action to enjoy at Llandarcy on Sunday afternoon when the region’s wheelchair rugby team takes on RGC.
It’s the first game for the newly christened Ospreys Wheelchair Rugby side following the announcement earlier this month of a new tie-up with the region that has seen the former South Wales Pirates join the Ospreys’ family.
Ospreys Wheelchair Rugby, a not for profit organisation, will this year compete in Division 2 of the GB Super Series, one below Sunday’s opponents from North Wales, so it promises to be a real test for the region.
The game is being played at Llandarcy Academy of Sport, the training base for the Ospreys and the new home of wheelchair rugby in South Wales, with a 2.00pm start.
Admission is free to all supporters, so if you are looking for something to do on Sunday then why not come and get behind the Ospreys Wheelchair Rugby team?
ABOUT WHEELCHAIR RUGBY
Wheelchair rugby is a mixed sport for people who have both upper and lower body impairments. The Ospreys team is actively looking to recruit and train some new players, and they can provide chairs to enable anyone interested to try the sport out for the first time.
It is a fantastic mixed sport for people who have disabilities that effect both their upper and lower body. It is a paralympic sport, which has also been known as Murderball or Quad Rugby.
Players are given a classification according to their functional ability; this ranges from 0.5 to 3.5 points. There are four players from each team on court at any one time, and their total classification points must total no more than 8 in a standard game. This enables people with varying functional abilities to have a valuable role.
The game is played indoors on a basketball size court using a ball the size of a volleyball. Goals are scored by carrying the ball over the goal line between two cones, eight metres apart. The ball must be bounced or passed at least every 10 seconds.
Wheelchair rugby is a full contact sport in that chair-to-chair contact is permitted; however person-to-person contact is not. Some chair-to-chair contact is considered dangerous and is not allowed.
Anyone interested in trying out with the Ospreys Wheelchair Rugby team should contact Head Coach, Paul Jenkins, on 07718 171672.
Potential volunteers looking to assist, or sponsors who would like to support the team, should contact Amanda Thomas, Regional Development Officer (Wales & South West), Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby, on 07950 545014 or via email at amanda.thomas@gbwr.org.uk