My November

Last Saturday I was lucky enough to have been invited for lunch in the executive box of the “Injured Player’s Foundation” at Twickenham ahead of England’s game against Western Samoa. As a rugby injury myself, the IPF is very close to my heart. Without their support and backing, I simply wouldn’t be able to train and compete at the level that I do, so I’m always grateful to meet the team and tell them what I’ve been up to whenever I can.

http://www.rfu.com/microsites/rfuspire/twickenham/indexabout.cfm?StoryID=21696

I’ve been waiting until today to put this post out because I wanted to include a piece on SportsAid’s “Sportsball” which I attended last night. SportsAid gives financial support to promising young athletes both able-bodied and disabled. The awards help with costs such as travel, training, accommodation, competition fees and equipment. The Sportsball is a huge annual event that raises thousands of pounds that can be used for things like the Government’s Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS), which helps talented sports people balance academic life and performance sport.

This year’s theme was “Be The Difference” and I, along with three other members of the GB squad (James Price, Jonny Coggan and Mandip Sehmi) were invited to take part in a Wheelchair Rugby demonstration after dinner at London’s Old Billingsgate events venue. The idea was to put on a two and a half minute display to music in the middle of the banqueting hall among the 700 guests… Simple then!!!

We arrived in the afternoon to rehearse while the venue was being dressed for the main event. The demo was to take place on a small dance floor directly in front of the stage, surrounded by tables of sports personalities and Olympic and Paralympic legends. Our display would close the evening with Rugby following on from Fencing and Wheelchair Basketball. We soon discovered that two and a half minutes was a pretty long time when the lights are on and the music is booming out in the background but we came up with a routine and kept our fingers crossed.

As dinner came to a close and the auctions began, we slipped out of the hall and climbed into our Rugby chairs before assembling “stage-left” for our big moment. It was quite nerve racking seeing a room full of expectant faces looking on as we took the floor. But before we knew it, the song was winding down and the crowd was applauding as all four of us crashed into each other for the last time. The demo had been a great success and we’d managed not to break a single wine glass or coffee cup!

Finally, I’m counting the days until my girlfriend Alison and I head off to Dubai on holiday. We’re flying out on Monday night to watch the Rugby Sevens next weekend before spending a few days relaxing in the sun. You’ll be able to read all about how my team, the “Pie and Pint Pilgrims” (doesn’t inspire confidence really does it!) fare at the tournament in my next post. Thanks for reading!

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