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The Australian wheelchair rugby team – including a player aiming to become our second female Paralympic representative – has returned from Austin, Texas after a friendly five-game tournament hosted by the Texas Stampede.
Although suffering three losses to the Stampede, the Steelers have returned with invaluable experience ahead of the WWR World Championships later this year.
The mini-tournament, staged between March 21 and 25, was the brainchild of Steelers head coach Brad Dubberley and his long-time rival, Texas Stampede head coach James Gumbert, who each saw an opportunity to provide their team with high-quality game experience after two years of disrupted competition due to the pandemic.
Gumbert coached the United States wheelchair rugby team for 16 years. Under his tenure which ended after Tokyo 2020, the Americans won a medal at every Paralympic Games and World Championship in a feat that has never been emulated by a national head coach for that period.
“It was such an awesome opportunity to bring our Australian Team to Texas for a friendship tour and a five-game series,” Dubberley said.
“For our athletes to gain this experience is huge following what has unfolded over the last few years with Covid.
“This trip will no doubt help us both short and long term. This is something that would be amazing to continue to build between our Australian and Texas teams, as well as other US-based club teams, as we prepare for the LA 2028 Paralympic Games.”
With senior players Jake Howe, Ben Fawcett, and Shae Graham unable to attend due to testing positive to Covid-19, Australia’s up-and-coming players were given the opportunity instead. Part of this new era includes Emilie Miller, who was the only female Australian representative during the tournament.
“We had six or seven debutants in that team, so it was a really good energy to be around,” Miller said, who is engaged to two-time Paralympic gold medallist in cycling David Nicholas.
“They were really eager, really keen to get on the court and do the best they could. Because we didn’t have so many players, it meant that they got a lot more court time and it made for a really good learning experience.
“It was a tough tour for us, we only won two games out of the whole tour. At the same time, I think we should be really proud of what happened. There were some really good things in the games and we were only losing by a few points when we did lose to the very experienced Texan team.”
Before taking up wheelchair rugby, Miller was a four-time world champion Para-cyclist. She was approached by Paralympics Australia and the Steelers program last year to see if she would be interested in trying wheelchair rugby.
“I attended one training session and loved it from the moment I got in my chair,” Miller said. “I started doing both sports at the same time for about nine months and, in the end, I really loved the rugby and wanted to see what I could make of it so I made the transition into it fully.”
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One of the highlights of the translation for Miller has been sharing emotions as part of the Steelers squad.
“When you’re cycling, it’s great when you win something, everyone’s really proud of you, but it’s really nice to be part of a team where everyone is proud of you but of themselves as well. It makes that feeling of joy and success feel so much bigger.
“You not only have that accountability to yourself and your coach, but also your teammates. That’s a really positive thing because it’s certainly very motivating and makes you more accountable for what you’re doing and how it affects other people.
“It’s really exciting to look at moving forward with some of these players and looking at the bigger picture of where they’re going to develop and end up.”
The Steelers will head back overseas later in the year for the Canada Cup in June and the WWR World Championships held in Vejle, Denmark in October.
By: Lucy Hunt, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 6 April 2022
Image: Jayden Jackson via Instagram
