More than 4,000 people are injured or diagnosed with a spinal cord injury every year.
“We want to provide more opportunity for people who want to take up sports with an injury”
An injury significant as this can often make people feel like they can’t do anything active or physical again but in reality there a number of sports that are still accessible to do.
Sports such as wheelchair basket ball has become popular amongst the community with over 100,000 people currently actively doing it, but wheelchair racing is slowly rising.
Paul Moseley who coaches at the Leeds Athletic Club for wheelchair racing sheds more light on the sport; “The sport has definitely become more popular and what we do here is give those opportunities for people who want to make something out of the sessions or simply come to get active, challenge themselves and make new friends”
The club is open to people with a range of spinal cord injuries, they want to encourage everyone to give it a go as it’s also been proven to increase agility and strength the same way physical physio would do.
Oliver Wells who is a member at the club , explains why he goes.”I’ve had injury for over 4 years and being apart of this club has made me forget about in a way, it’s a fun way to stay active and learn about your own physical strength and it’s really fun.”
The club provides racing chairs, one to one training, coaching sessions, making accessible for everyone, whilst also working closely alongside with rehabilitation centres and local hospitals for people trying navigate their injury for the first time.
The club continues to grow welcoming new members every month and hopes to continue their work in making the sport more popular within the spinal cord community.
