Two years ago on the 16th February, club chairperson Elizabeth Ferris’ idea of offering active wheelchair sport in Tayside was still but a pipe dream.

With the amazing support of our friends The Bradford Bulls travelling up that morning to chilly Dundee, an Open Day was held at Fintry Primary School showcasing the sport of Wheelchair Rugby League. From the turnout it was clear there was an appetite within the community to bring WRL to the city, and thus The Dragons were born.

The club began meeting regularly to play WRL, though those early days were pretty tough as we had neither money nor equipment, but a keen band of merry souls with lots of heart and the desire to make it work!

In the two years that have passed we now have over 50 members on our database, training weekly in five core sports. We often have too many players and not enough sports wheelchairs (a nice headache to have!) and if we had our own home we could offer active wheelchair sport literally every night of the week. We have players boasting international caps in WRL and Wheelchair Basketball, who do a fantastic job as role models for the kids as young as 4 who come along and realise that having a disability need not stop them from aiming high.

So what better birthday present than winning the Sport Category of this week’s Dundee Community Spirit Awards!

The Dragons would not be as successful a club without the hard work of those who give up their spare time to coach, provide physio guidance, maintain the chairs, plough through the mountain of administration and raise funds. Without our sponsors we’d still be playing in our day chairs, and without the players who pull on our colours and take to the court with pride, there’d be no need for a club at all.

So Happy Birthday to each and every one of “The Dragons’ Family”, here’s to another exciting year!

Dragons Picking Up Their Dundee Community Spirit Award.
Back L-R: Jay O’Reilly, Farana Latif, Kevin Rattray, Bill Lamb, Sally Lumsdaine, Jen Scally.
Front L-R: Gemma Lumsdaine, Elizabeth Ferris, Stephen Carling.