A keen sportsman has told how he “fell back in love” with rugby league by taking up the wheelchair version of the game – and has gone on to play for Wales.
Harry Jones, 27, from Wrexham was heartbroken when he was advised by doctors to give up playing the conventional form of the sport because he has epilepsy.
Unable to play the sport he loved, he said he felt his world had come “crashing down”.
But he found a new sporting home by joining the North Wales Crusaders Wheelchair Rugby League & Disability Sports Association.
The club trains every Friday evening at Deeside Leisure Centre and draws players from a wide area including Wrexham, Flintshire, Chester and The Wirral.
The incredible impact the club has had on the athletes has been recognised by the awarding of a grant from a new community funding programme.
The group has been awarded a £1,000 grant from a Community Fund Initiative established by Go North Wales tourism group and holiday homes specialists holidaycottages.co.uk.
The money will be used to cover the cost of transporting the equipment it takes into schools to run its education programme about disability inclusion.
Harry played running rugby league until he was told his epilepsy meant the sport carried too many health risks.
He said: “I was told playing the sport was too dangerous for me because of the risk of head contact.
“My whole world came crashing down when I was told I couldn’t play running rugby league any more. It was the one thing I liked the most. It allowed me to get my inner feelings and aggression out.”
However, his interest in sport was reborn after he took up wheelchair rugby league, and has enjoyed great success, having represented Wales at two rugby league wheelchair world cups.
He said he and his dad Stephen were invited to a wheelchair rugby league taster session in 2013.
He said: “A few short weeks later I made my club debut. In the game, there is definitely no quarter given, it can be aggressive, quite violent sometimes.
“There is lots of controlled aggression. It’s amazing. When I started playing wheelchair rugby league, I got my love for rugby back again.”
Harry said representing Wales in two world cups was a huge honour and a fantastic experience.
He played in the 2017 World Cup in France and then again in the 2022 World Cup which took place in the UK.
Harry’s dad Stephen is deeply involved in the region’s wheelchair rugby league set-up.
Stephen, from Wrexham, first played and then became a top coach, eventually becoming the coach of the Wales rugby league wheelchair team. In 2022 he led Wales to the semi-finals of the sport’s world cup.
Stephen, 57, who’s also the association chair and coach, suffers from several illnesses including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), angina, myoclonic epilepsy with ragged red fibres (MERFF) and a genetic muscular degenerative condition.
He said: “Players join for a variety of reasons. We have got some who have come in the past who are there for a bit of friendship, others have come because it gets them out the house.
“It gets them to realise they are not on their own any more. Others have come because they want to improve their fitness while others want to see how far they can go in the sport, including to international level. We have had players who have done that, reached an international standard.”
He added: “It’s the friends you make from there. It’s the feeling of belonging again.
“It’s the feeling you can do something after spending half your life being told you can’t.”
He said the club was hugely inclusive and last year had one player who was coming up for his 10th birthday playing alongside the club’s oldest player, aged 71.
He added: “We don’t see ourselves as a club anymore, we see ourselves as a family.”
Jim Jones, managing director of North Wales Tourism, said: “It has been a real pleasure to partner with Holiday Cottages to roll out this community fund, one of a number of projects we are running as part of the strategic partnerships we have established for 2024.
“Looking ahead, our focus remains on securing additional funding to sustain and expand this community fund. We are committed to supporting future initiatives that contribute to the growth and well-being of our local community and the tourism industry.”
Serena Pearce, regional communities manager at holidaycottages.co.uk, said: “At holidaycottages.co.uk, we are honoured to have supported the North Wales community through our partnership with Go North Wales and the North Wales Community Fund.
“The level of passion and dedication shown by all the applicants was truly inspiring, making the selection process a challenging one.
“I applaud the incredible work being done by local organisations and community groups to improve the region.
“Through these grants, we hope to contribute to meaningful initiatives that preserve North Wales’s unique culture and environment, benefiting both residents and visitors for years to come.”
Gary Taylor, from Mynydd Isa, near Mold, is another member of the North Wales Crusaders Wheelchair Rugby League & Disability Sports Association who says it has given him a new purpose..
Unsuccessful surgeries on his left knee after a cartilage injury and subsequent complications eventually saw Gary, 58, take the heartbreaking decision to have his leg amputated.
He suffered the initial injury while he was refereeing a football match.
Gary, who held a Uefa B football referee licence, said: “I had multiple operations on my left knee, and everything snowballed from there. In total I had 28 operations.
“The amputation was the hardest decision I have ever made.”
However, Gary said getting involved in wheelchair rugby league changed his life, and he now leads the association’s schools programme to raise awareness of the sport.
His Gary’s prowess at wheelchair rugby saw him capped 28 times for Wales, playing at major tournaments, including the world cup and hehas also been assistant coach for the national squad.
