Wrexham to host four-team wheelchair RL tournament

North Wales will host a four-team wheelchair rugby league tournament known as the ‘Spring Slam’ later this month.

The tournament will take place at the Sports Centre Glyndwr University Wrexham, on Saturday March 21, with the event running from 9am until 4pm.

Teams from England and Scotland, as well as Wales, will be competing, in the form of the Gravesend Dynamite, Glasgow Panthers, Liverpool Saints and North Wales Crusaders.

This will be the first event of this type to be ever held in Wales, and much of the credit for it happening at all must go ot Mark Andrew Jones.

Jones is the team manager of both the North Wales Crusaders and Wales national wheelchair sides. He is also trustee of the Crusaders’ disability sports charity.

“We are delighted to be welcoming teams from across Great Britain to Spring Slam – this first event of its kind in Wales,” said Bob Wilson, the chairman of the charity.

“The idea came from our team manager Mark Andrew Jones (commonly known as MAJ).

“We hope to grow the sport as part of our community commitment and this will go a long way to raising the profile of the sport in Wales.

“The team is run through a charity and any such exposure can only be of benefit. Ultimately though it’s a chance for our players to compete against some of the best in the UK.”

Wheelchair rugby league is a very different beast to the ‘wheelchair rugby’ seen in the Olympic Games.

An oval ball is used, there are no forward passes allowed, play-the-balls take place, and the ball needs to be placed down over the line to score a try.

Drop goals, conversions, penalties and kick-offs are all done with the fist, the latter three with the help of an elevated kicking tee.