Wheelchair athlete heads to help Ugandan team

A UK disability athlete is heading to Uganda to help set up the country's first wheelchair rugby tournament.

Sarah Burrows is the captain of the Penrith Pumas, based in Cumbria, and will spend two weeks in Kampala with a wheelchair rugby team there.

The Penrith Pumas are donating a £5,000 wheelchair, medical supplies and other equipment to support the Ugandan athletes.

Burrows, who is from Carlisle, said: "I'm excited to see how they live and how they manage the daily challenges that come with a disability in somewhere that's maybe not as accessible as the UK."

While in Uganda, she will be holding workshops, teaching the rules of the game, mentoring players, as well as putting on games.

"I'm really excited, I'm really glad to be part of it," she said.

The 26-year-old took up the sport four years ago after a suggestion from her physiotherapist and has not looked back.

Burrows said: "You just feel so welcomed by everyone - everyone's disabilities here are different but the second you're in the chair, you're all equal."

The Pumas, who have just been crowned league champions, play wheelchair rugby fives, which indicates the number of players on the court at any one time.

Games are played over two 12-minute halves and contact can be made with other chairs but not with players.

A player holding the ball must bounce or pass it at least once every 10 seconds and a try is scored when a player in control of the ball crosses the opponent's try line.

At tournaments, Burrows said she cheered on every team, not just her own.

She said: "You just meet people that have gone through different but similar experiences and you all just have this mutual respect for each other and you all want each other to do well."

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