Brighton Buccaneers Wheelchair Rugby team seeks new players

Brighton Buccaneers, based in Falmer, are part of a campaign to grow the club nationally and the club has been called “a place to come together”.

The sport is said to be a lifeline for players where disabled athletes can meet friends and compete with them.

Omar Foster, a player-coach at the Buccaneers, said: “There’s that sense that everyone has a disability and we are all coming together. I met someone with the same condition in person for the first time at a tournament.

Brighton Buccaneers playing a game of Wheelchair Rugby (Image: Claire Jones)

“It’s really, really good and it's not just our club. For me it’s also one of the only sports I can play completely.

“For some people I know it is one of the only times that they come out and socialise with people. The main thing is just having a laugh.”

Omar, 30, took up the sport at university in Kent eight years ago and joined the Buccaneers shortly after the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Wheelchair rugby involves players scoring by carrying a ball over a goal line at the end of the pitch. Contact between wheelchairs is allowed and the sport is also sometimes known as “murderball”.

The sport became part of the Paralympics in 2000.

Omar, who has a form of muscular dystrophy, said the game is played by people with lots of different conditions and a wide variation in physical disability.

The club is based at the University of Brighton in Falmer.

Brighton Buccaneers playing wheelchair rugby (Image: Claire Jones)

While the sport often gains a popularity boost in a Paralympic year, such as in Paris in 2024, the club is always looking toexpand its player base.

Brighton Buccaneers are part of the I Can Play campaign launched by Great British Wheelchair Rugby, aiming to recruit players nationally.

The campaign wants to change the misconception that wheelchair rugby is only for wheelchairs users and that it “is a game for anyone with a physical impairment”.