Whilst Great Britain’s women’s sevens team were unable to get their hands on any medals from the 2024 Paris Olympics, Team GB will soon get another crack at bringing home gold from the French capital. Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby are amongst the leading nations heading into the 2024 Paris Paralympics, with their quest for gold getting started on Wednesday 28th of August.
Shaw was recently tasked with the tough decision of reducing his squad down to just 12 players, as he named his squad for the Paralympics earlier this month. Amongst the selected group is a contingent of Paralympic debutants, as the likes of Ollie Mangion, David Ross and Tyler Walker prepare for their first crack on the biggest stage.
Walker is an exceptional talent, as never before has a Great Britain player been called up for the games as young as just 20-years-old. Shaw was full of praise for the youngest member of the Paralympic squad, and is excited to see the Leicester Tigers star showcase his talents in Paris.
“He’s exploded onto the scene, having only played for 18 months. He’s kind of that natural sporting ability, which is always exciting to see. He’s got something that we haven’t got in the squad, which is the height. It does make a difference in game so you’ve only got to look at somebody like Japan, who’ve got that tall player. It just gives you a different look, and over the months since we brought him into Canada Cup, and he’s going forward it’s going to be exciting.”
“I’m excited by all of them. I think they should acquit themselves well when called upon. We went to Canada, just going back to Tyler very quickly, he just takes everything in his stride, Canada was his first ever GB experience. And he acquitted himself really, really well. So we’ve always had that element of trust to put them in there. They just seem to embrace the situation and really take it on board.”
The reigning Paralympic champions, Great Britain enter the tournament off the back of an exhaustive run of tournaments, that stretch from Denmark, to Cardiff and over to Canada. Team GB have recently taken part in the Musholm Cup, the Quad Nations and most recently the Canada Cup, and Head Coach Paul Shaw is confident in his side ahead of their upcoming trip to Paris.
Amidst the anxious debutants that are chomping at the bit to get things started, there is a calmer group of experienced older players who are set for a return to the Paralympics this August. Aaron Phipps has been to the mountain top before, both literally though his incredible unassisted climb of Mount Kilimanjaro, and in the sporting sense as Great Britain won Gold at the 2021 Toyko Paralympics.
Phipps has gone on to become quite the celebrity within the sport, and takes a starring role in the Paralympics promotional video campaign ahead of the upcoming tournament. A motivational speaker and experienced interviewee in front of camera, Phipps has been helping grow the coverage of the Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby team off the court, and takes a leadership role when he dons the union jack and prepares for a fixture.
Shaw had plenty to praise in Phipps’ many efforts, as his player gets set to become a three-time Paralympian, with his children watching on in Paris. Shaw expressed his admiration for Phipps, but underlined that he can’t do it all by himself when Team GB head out to the Games.
“Aaron came back into the squad around 2017, 2018 I think it was. He’s just got progressively better over those years. He’s like a fine wine. He’s definitely matured into a real world class athlete. So he’s done well, he’s really committed himself. And I mean, it’s a big commitment to be able to go through all these (Paralympic) cycles.”
“We’re really pleased with what he’s doing. But also, he’s enjoying it. How he can still be enjoying it, 12 years after his first Paralympics, and he’s in a good place. And, you know, we’re looking forward to seeing everything, when we put all that into place in Paris.”
“I’m excited. I’m excited for the team. But like with any team sport, he can’t do it on his own. I think he’s humble enough to know that he needs those players around him, he needs the coaching staff around, to be able to perform, so he is one of the major parts of the squad. And another thing, we should be very proud with the commitment he has given to the sport. Hopefully his family will be really proud when he gets a medal.”
Having toured across Europe and North America in recent months, Great Britain have gotten a taste of what they are coming up against in Paris. Shaw identified how the United States will once again be the team to beat, as the star-spangled side have never not been on the medal podium at the Paralympic games. Shaw’s side have been gaining valuable experience in recent battles with the Americans, and requires his side to be ready from the get go for their pool stages matches against Australia, France and Denmark.
“The USA have never, never not medalled in the Paralympics. So they’ve got that consistency level, probably more than any other team in the world. France obviously going to be a very strong team at their games. But I think we’ve also got pressure on that as well. So how do they deal with that? I would say, Denmark, they’d beat Australia at the Paralympics in 2021, I would say, any one of the top seven teams can get into those medal games.”
“You can’t afford not to be (at your best), you have to win at least two games to get through. But you’ve got three games in the pool. So, we’ve got the world champions (France) and they’re going to be a very, very hard team to play against. We’ve had mixed results against them over the years. We feel at this moment, in as good a place as we have been in the past to really, really put them under pressure.
“So in all the time that I’ve been involved in wheelchair rugby, my first Games was in 2000. There’s never been as close a competition as there is this year. I think that’s testament to everybody, to all the governing bodies to get their athletes in the situation that they’re in now.”
“That’s the exciting thing, you might be on the wrong end of a result, but to know that you’re going up against the top teams (is important). And conversely, if we are successful, we’ve been part of a really, really exciting competition. So I think absolutely, I think it’s a challenge for us to look forward to.”
Wheelchair Rugby is amongst the sports that are growing at the Paralympics, with eight teams competing at the games across two pools of four. On the opposite side of the bracket to Great Britain is the heavy-hitters United States, Japan and Canada, who have been joined by the new-coming underdogs Germany.
Despite having low expectations on the European occupier of Pool A, Shaw is happy to see Germany at the games and would like a further expansion of the sport in time for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics.
“I think that would probably give you two bites of the cherry, rather than just the one. So I don’t think that will happen if I’m going to be honest, because I think there’s only a certain amount of teams that can be participating in the Paralympics.
“There are seven teams now, Germany, are the lowest ranked team to come into it, but they can still play really good rugby and really effective rugby. They’re going to give everybody a good game. Whereas in the past, there have been teams who have been whitewashed. but that won’t happen anymore.”
Shaw has been apart of the Team GB Wheelchair Rugby coaching set-up for over a decade, and has overseen his fair share of Paralympic cycles. However, this past run up to the Games have been amongst the most difficult, as the Covid Pandemic reduced the preparation time from four to three years, following the 12-month postponement of the Tokyo games. Shaw explained the challenges this has conjured up, and how his side has risen to the occasion in time for France.
“I talked about Tokyo (2021 Games), where there’s probably an extended cycle, it’s five years rather than four. So this has been a three year cycle rather than four (for Paris). So it’s different issues. You have to accelerate certain aspects of what you’re trying to get. Because it’s been a shorter cycle, so that in itself has had its issues, but it’s all starting to come together.
“I think Canada Cup was probably the accumulation of all the work we have been doing over those two and a half years, to really get into a good situation. Which I do think we’re at.”
With just one month to go before Team GB begin their quest to retain Paralympic gold, Shaw signed off the interview with a message to the fans. In order to thrive as the showcase sport for Team GB at the Paralympics, the wheelchair rugby team are grateful for their support, which begins at their immediate families, and stretches out across all corners of the country.
“One of the things that we talk about is what impact you have on people and your friends or family, within the rugby community, either in this country or around the world. And I think we wouldn’t be able to do this, if we didn’t have our friends and family, if we didn’t have those people who were able to support us and allow us to do what we do.
“Now, I’ve been an athlete and I’ve been a coach now, it’s a big commitment you have to make, and you have to have the support of your friends. And finally, I think ultimately, that’s why we do it. To show them that ‘thank you’, for allowing us to do what we do, and give them hopefully give a medal winning performance out in Paris in a few weeks time.”