Children revel in first visually-impaired rugby event
Disability: Children enjoy first visually-impaired rugby event
- Published
A visually-impaired (VI) rugby day has been held at Cardiff Arms Park, the first event of its kind in the UK.
The event, organised by Cardiff Rugby Foundation and RNIB, is said to be a huge milestone for the game.
Dozens of children from schools across south Wales attended.
For Gareth Davies who is registered blind and plays for the adult VI Rugby team in Cardiff, the day was emotional.
“It’s incredibly special, with my own sight loss journey five years ago, there were only a handful of people playing, now we have 70 children playing on one of the biggest pitches in the world," said Gareth, 48, who was diagnosed with a condition called retina pigmentosa, external.
“It means my peripheral vision shrinks, and I now just have 10% good vision, everything else is just a blur and it also means I can’t see in the dark.
He was diagnosed when he was 19, with his eyesight degenerating over the years, but seven years ago this took a real drop and he was registered blind.
“It had a significant impact on me – there was a lot of fear and anxiety about my future, it affected me socially, I didn’t want to go out.
“I would say it had quite a detrimental effect on me.”
Gareth says there are many misconceptions around visual impairments, which it is important to challenge
Being registered blind meant he could no longer play the sport he loved, and it was only by chance that he came across the world of VI rugby.
“A friend told me about a visual impairment team at Harlequins that had just been set up, I was living in Cardiff at the time so would travel down on the train every month to get back involved in rugby.”
He then set up a team in Cardiff, and set about establishing VI rugby in Wales. He organised the Arms Park event after feeling that visually impaired people had been slightly left behind when it comes to inclusion in sport.
“If we look at wheelchair rugby, and deaf rugby, the game has really developed, and that’s fantastic – they have some really good, solid foundations in Wales and around the world, but rugby for visually impaired people is still lagging behind.
“What we’re trying to do is close that gap, and get a really high quality provision for everybody living in Wales living with sight loss.”
'First of its kind'
“A lot of these children and young people have been told they can’t play rugby or feel they can’t play with their peers, so what we’re doing here is creating a pathway to give blind and partially sighted children an opportunity to continue playing their rugby journey.
“Today’s event is not only the first event of its kind in Wales, or in the UK, but as far as we know in the world – to have 70 blind or partially sighted children play rugby is a first.
“What we would really want is to work with the governing bodies in rugby, stakeholders and the regions, so any young person in Wales who has sight loss has the opportunity to play the national game we all love.”
In VI rugby the players have to focus much more on communication, so they know where each other is on the pitch
Cardiff Rugby is the country’s only visual impairment team, and for the community foundation director, Nadine Griffiths, the event was important.
“It’s all about really breaking down the barriers to ensure there are opportunities for anybody to participate and enjoy the sport.
“We started in 2019 with a visual impairment team, and now it is vitally important for us to provide a pathway, so that children coming through can participate in sport.
She added that everyone had a part to play, and hopefully the sport will grow with other regions coming on board allowing everyone to participate.
“It’s really important that we all live by, 'there is a jersey for all, every single person should have an opportunity to engage, not just in rugby but in sport in general'.”
Jacob was one of the children who attended the event at Cardiff Arms Park
Most of the young people at the event had a visual impairment.
Harvey, 10, who is blind in his left eye, said: “I didn’t think I could play because of my visual impairment, but today’s been great.”
Jacob, 12, who struggles to see out of his right eye, said anyone with a visual impairment should be able to play, and he hopes to play for Wales.
Rugby is 11-year-old Liberty’s favourite sport: “It’s amazing the fact that people can still play rugby when they have a disability in their eye, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” she said.
Liberty struggles playing sports as it can be hard to see, but says the adaptations have been amazing
Cai Emlyn, 27, who got involved in the sport when Cardiff Rugby had their taster session in 2019, was born with a genetic disorder called neurofibromatosis, external, and lost most of his sight when he was nine.
“I played rugby as a kid, but as my vision got worse I struggled to play, the game became too hard for me to keep up and cope physically.
“It was difficult giving up the sport, but it’s fantastic that they have VI rugby in Cardiff – it shows rugby is just not for sighted people and everyone can play the sport.
“Hopefully this can be a regular thing and there will be a provision for kids with sight loss, it would be fantastic to grow the sport across Wales so each region had a team, and fingers crossed maybe even get a Wales team set up to get to the VI World Cup.
The game is as close to the mainstream game as possible, in a touch rugby format, with the biggest difference the colour of the ball
Director of RNIB Cymru Ansley Workman said: “This has been a partnership with the RNIB and the community foundation to make sure VI kids can get the opportunity to go out there and try rugby and see it’s a game for everyone.