A FORMER Worcester Wolves Wheelchair Basketball player who made the switch to rugby has seen his decision pay off by representing Great Britain at a major tournament.
Luke Collier was part of the squad that travelled to play in the Canada Cup earlier this month, where he played a significant amount and started in GB’s game against Japan, which is the highest-ranked team in the world.
Great Britain finished fourth in the tournament and have climbed to their highest ever world ranking of second.
Luke played basketball for the Wolves while studying at the University of Worcester in 2018.
A year earlier one of his basketball coaches back home invited him to join a wheelchair rugby session.
He said: “We both went into rugby thinking it was going to be awful compared to basketball but after the first session I was hooked.
“To spectators, wheelchair rugby can look like a very dangerous sport of people hitting and crashing into each other but it’s the metaphorical chess game that goes on between teams that I love about it as it really comes down to which team is smarter.”
Luke has Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy and so is in some level of pain constantly.
“Getting myself into the gym and to the standard of an elite athlete has been one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done in my life, but now I am finally reaping the benefits after putting in all the hard work,” he said.
He now has his eyes set on getting into the 2024 Paralympic squad in Paris as GB attempt to retain the gold medal they won in Tokyo.