Today I want to share my relatively new found love for wheelchair rugby.

Growing up, I had pretty much no interest in sports. I couldn’t run so I couldn’t play football with the other boys, and the one time my dad took me to a game the ball hit me in the face. I remember watching as this muddy orb grew in size, the thought of moving my head not fully forming.

In high school, I got hit in the face with a badminton racket while sitting on the sidelines, then my PE teacher who was far from fit ridiculed me for tiptoeing after a swimming lesson, a trait common in those with BMD, outing me as a disabled person at a time when I was passing as non disabled. I’m proud of who I am but growing up in the 90s it was rough to be seen as different, particularly in the rough high school I went to.

As the years went on I’d check in for the odd Scotland game but other than that, I had no inclination to watch, let alone play any sport.

Then at an Allied Mobility event, I got talking with members of the Glasgow Wheelchair Rugby team who invited me along. I mulled it over but it went no further. Then a friend invited me along to a session and I pretty much replaced him as the BMD representation within our team the Caledonian Crushers.

I went along and, to my surprise, found that I enjoyed the game. I enjoyed the thrill of crossing the goal mouth, working as a team and slamming into other wheelchair users at high speed. I think that last one might actually be the main reason.

More than a group of players, I found a whole bunch of amazing people whose very existence challenges the notion that disabled folks are incapable or weak. We may not be the greatest of teams but we are the greatest team.

Disabled sports are on the rise and for most, a willingness to play is all that’s really needed. At my age, I think my scope to be a paralympian has passed but each week I get to challenge myself and society’s perceptions and, gold medal or no, I’m a rugby player.

1,2,3 Crushers!