Bonding over battle: How wheelchair rugby is more than just a sport

Mike Todd speeds around the court in his bashed up rugby wheelchair and holds on tight to the ball; he’s ready to throw. A Canadian player eyes the ball from the other side of the court, and darts across into the direction of the ball as it’s in motion. New Zealand teammate Cameron Leslie grabs it and flies across the goal line and the crowd roars loudly.

It’s a Friday afternoon in May and the World Wheelchair Rugby Paralympic Qualification Tournament is being hosted in Wellington. Eight international wheelchair rugby teams are fighting for the last three spots to qualify for the 2024 Paris Games in August. It’s been a 15-year journey for Mike - a.k.a. Toddy - to get to this point since he first started playing the sport.

Toddy describes his upbringing as fairly ordinary; he grew up watching the Black Caps and remembers waking up at 3am with his old man to watch rugby games being played on the other side of the world.

Despite a “massive sporting interest”, he preferred watching over playing as he grew up with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (or CMT), which affected his mobility. 

Toddy remembers feeling an internal pressure to keep walking for as long as possible as his body changed. “When you're only around able-bodied people and they're carrying on with their able-bodied lives, you don't know any different version of life”, says the 46-year-old from Christchurch. 

Before he started using a wheelchair at 28, walking short distances with crutches made him feel like he was living in a “pretty small circle”.

“My life was limiting 'cause I was [only] able to move as far as my body could carry me,” he said.

But now that couldn’t be further from his current reality as an athlete in the Wheel Blacks, Aotearoa’s national wheelchair rugby team.

He says being surrounded by so many wheelchair-users by playing rugby has “added a whole massive perspective” to the possibilities of what life in a chair could actually look like.

Finding a kindred spirit in sport

It was also through wheelchair rugby that Toddy met his ‘CMT buddy’ Jacinta Richardson, a 22-year-old budding athlete from Oamaru.

She first came across wheelchair rugby from volunteers at a fundraising stand outside The Warehouse. She joined the Dunedin team three years ago when she moved to the southern city to study towards her medical lab science degree and “the rest is history... I really enjoyed it” she says.

Sitting in a wheelchair rugby chair for the first time - despite being able to walk - “felt good right away… it came quite naturally to me”.

Prior to wheelchair rugby, Jacinta played softball, basketball, netball and rugby. Eventually, she wasn’t able to keep up with her peers because of her CMT: “I was enthusiastic but not very good,” she says.

But she says wheelchair rugby was designed just for her. “I felt like they made the sport with me in mind,” she says. “It just suits me so well.”

During wheelchair rugby tournament training seasons, Jacinta drives for three hours from Oamaru to Christchurch once a week and stays with Toddy for a few days; “there aren't too many wheelchair rugby players from the wopwops,” she says.

She didn’t grow up around many disabled people in her small hometown. “I didn't really think my disability was a big deal,” she says. “I sort of was acting like I was able-bodied when I wasn't.”

She didn’t want to be “annoying” and ask for help: “I was just trying to be as low maintenance as possible,” she says. She didn’t realise having a community of disabled friends was something she needed, until she started playing wheelchair rugby.

Being connected with other disabled people through wheelchair rugby, she saw people getting help when they needed it and advocating for themselves; “it was really good for me to see,” she says. 

Before Toddy, Jacinta hadn’t met someone else with CMT before, and now she has someone she calls her “guide”. They talk about the varying sensation in her hands and share advice on what types of sports gloves to wear that will keep their hands the most stable when playing wheelchair rugby.

Going head to head in Wellington

It’s now two days out from the tournament and Jacinta is getting classified. During our conversation prior to the tournament, she said she was excited but “I'm kind of feeling dread, it's just nerve-wracking”. 

Although she has been selected locally for the New Zealand team, this international classification is crucial - it will determine whether she can actually participate in the tournament at an international level.

After a couple days settling into Wellington, Jacinta has a successful classification meeting and she’s made the team for this weekend. Although her own reaction is mellow, Toddy is thrilled. “She doesn't quite realise how big this is for her yet and I'm just so proud of her, all the work she's put in,” he says. “I'm looking forward to seeing her out at the court and just growing over the next couple of years.”

As the Wheel Blacks make their way through the tournament pools against different countries, there’s more losses than wins; Paris is looking unlikely.

But it was a critical loss against Brazil that saw the Wheel Blacks bow out of contention for the Paralympics. Tears are shed. The team is devastated. 

"That was one of the saddest and darkest moments we’ve had in the team because we realise the dream is nearly over,” says Toddy. “It was definitely a bit sombre with the team.”

Jacinta is philosophical: “Obviously disappointing to lose… but happy just to be here.”

There are still some “small bright spots” out of the tournament, says Toddy, especially with Jacinta’s development. “There’s a bit of buzz about ‘who’s this new girl on your team?’ And they’re like, ‘she’s playing awesome’ and I’m like, ‘I know’,” he says, chuffed for his mate.

“By the time LA comes around, she’ll be one of the main line ups out there. I have no doubt about it,” says Toddy.

Jacinta herself hasn’t thought about the next Paralympic Games in 2028, but Toddy teases her saying it’s not up to her: “We’ve made the decision for you, you’re going to LA!” 

“It would be nice I guess, I wouldn’t say no,” she smiles.

What’s next?

Whether or not she does pursue competitive sport, playing wheelchair rugby has helped Jacinta find strength in community.

“If I didn't have something like that to see and I knew my condition was going to get worse, it would feel like the end of the world,” she says. “And I think that's probably something that able-bodied people think as well, when they see disabled people, it’s like ‘how miserable’. But you can actually have a good life and enjoy yourself.”

For Toddy, along with a “tight-knit group” of friends who experience life in the same way, wheelchair rugby has given him a positive way to manage life’s ups and downs he might not have otherwise.

“Just having an outlet in general in life these days is important when there's so many other things going on,” he says. “I think it's so hard to have a disability in the first place and if you don't have a healthy outlet for it, then so many of our people do turn to alcohol and drugs to balance out their lives as they see it. Because life is hard and it's harder having a disability.”

“Regardless of whether I stay with the Wheel Blacks going forward or not, it's like you're always gonna have that family, dear, great friends that I'll have for life in this.”

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