Two female wheelchair rugby players will represent Ireland at the European Championships at the end of this month.
Jade Flynn Hurley who plays with Rebel Wheelers in Cork and Deidre Mongan from Galway who plays for Ulster Barbarians, have both been selected for the eight-person Irish Wheelchair Rugby team who will travel to the event in Italy.
Sponsorship is being sought for the team as IWA Sport endeavours to raise €18,500 to help cover the costs of flights and transport to and from venues, as well as accommodation and entry fees. Any funds received will help lower the cost of the athlete contribution and what they have to pay in order to travel and compete with the team.
In total eight players and four staff will travel, Deirdre Mongan, who has also represented Ireland previously in the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio spoke of their hopes of gaining promotion by finishing in the top two of the C Division: “I’m hoping we perform well throughout the tournament and qualify for the European Championships Division B competition in 2024”.
Mongan described what it feels like to represent Ireland again on the International stage: “I’m very proud to be representing Ireland again. It’s a feeling that I’ll never grow tired of, whatever sport I compete in.”
Teammate and Ireland’s strength and conditioning coach, Alan Dineen praised the team’s work when preparing for the competition: “The momentum is building. We are training very hard and looking forward to the competition. We have been preparing for the past six months,” he said.
They will be accompanied by Head Coach Alan Lynch from Tallanstown, Co Louth, Team Manager Lynn Cromie who lives in Lisburn, Co Antrim and is originally from Enniskillen, and support staff Teresa Dineen, Chairperson of Irish Wheelchair Rugby who is from Togher, Co Cork, and Alan Dodds from Portadown, Co Armagh.
People often dream about playing for their country and athletes with disabilities deserve the same level of support as all other athletes in their quest for success.
“There are people who acquire a disability who may think their life is over and then they find sport ,” Lynch said.
“It opens up so many exciting opportunities and endless possibilities.”
If you would like to sponsor the team please get in touch or if you’d like to make a
donation you can do so via the link: https://bit.ly/3KnZd9d
