Northampton Saints Wheelchair Rugby have received a significant boost to its programme on the eve of their new season.
The partnership between the club and Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby to deliver its national junior programme has been extended by more than two years.
Head coach Jamie Higgins will oversee the launch of a new regional academy system to support and bolster new talent and bridge the gap for junior players at club level and the GB talent.
Higgins said: “This is an opportunity for the players to take another step and have an opportunity to play with junior players but at a more regional level, so there will be regional competition and they’ll have their own identities within the regional academies.
“This is new for wheelchair rugby and will pull us level with other sports and will play a big part in driving up playing standards.
“Previously the programme has delivered session monthly around the UK, however due to distance of some sessions for junior players, regular engagement has not been able to be maintained. Moving the junior programme to regional academies allows these identified young players to maintain regular participation and create the first steps for working towards the talent pathway and maybe identifying the Paralympic players of the future.”
The partnership extension is another measurement of the growth of Saints Wheelchair Rugby, as they prepare for the start of their WR5s season this weekend.
Saints will be heading down to the Life Centre in Plymouth on Sunday 18 May, where they will battle it out with Help for Heroes, Leicester Tigers, North East Barbarians and Solent Sharks A. This will be followed by further legs at Stoke Mandeville on 15 June before the final home leg on 13 July at Kettering Arena.
“First and foremost we are a community programme and I’ve always said that but the guys are looking strong, there’s a been a lot of development since last season and there’s been good numbers too,” added Higgins.
“We’ve worked on some of the areas that needed improving from last year, when they’re placed under pressure sometimes the game doesn’t stick to the script. But we’ve worked on that and they’re looking strong, composed and hopefully, we’ve got the same winning mentality that our first XV has got at the moment and we can take that forward.
“We’ve got a couple of away legs, then we finish off at a home-based venue at Kettering Arena, so it is a great opportunity for supporters of the club to come and see the wheelchair rugby team in action at that top level.”
