Glamorgan Psychologist Coaches Paralympic Team
August 12, 2008
University of Glamorgan sport psychologist Ross Hall will be jetting out to Beijing this summer as the official psychology coach to the British wheelchair rugby team.
The team will take part in the Paralympics and the rugby tournament begins on the 12th Sept, with games being played at the University of Science and Technology Gym.
Ross has been working with the team this year as they have attended championships in Australia and a pre-Paralympic tournament in Canada in preparation for the big event in Beijing.
Ross said, “I have attended all of the teams training camps and competitions to ensure that they are mentally prepared for the situations they will face.
Wheelchair rugby is a fast growing sport across the world and is played on an indoor basketball court. Players are classified according to available hand and trunk function from 0.5 (highest impairment) to 3.5. Four players from each team (with a total of 8 points) are on the court at any one time. The aim is to score a try between two cones on the opposition goal line. It is a full contact, no-holds barred game of skill and tactics and is known as ‘murderball’.
Ross continued, “Working with a disabled team is much like working with able bodied athletes. As sportsmen they face the same psychological issues as any other sports professional. It’s my job to ensure that they are able to cope with any distractions that might occur in training or during the games. The players are used to playing against some of the top teams in the world and so we will hopefully be very well prepared for the Paralympics.”
GB has a real opportunity of medalling in Beijing and are currently ranked 4th in the world. The team fly out to Macau holding camp on the 27th August for final preparations. They face New Zealand, Australia and Germany in their pool games and the semi-finals are likely to be against the USA or Canada.
