IAN GOLDEN kept a tour diary as Wales Wheelchair visited the USA for an historic two-match series.
Monday, 29th January
It all started at Heathrow Airport as we met outside Terminal 3 at 7.30am, just over four hours before our first plane was due to leave. Check-in was opening an hour early, especially for us, so staff could load up the ten sports Wheelchairs, plus all the other equipment we needed to play the first two games of Wheelchair Rugby League ever in the Americas. We landed in Charlotte in North Carolina and had to check everything out, then back in again, for the domestic flight down to Charleston. We were met at that airport by four members of the USA squad who drove us to our hotel in Myrtle Beach. By that time, it was 11pm and for some of the squad, that was 24 hours after they first got out of bed. Rest needed before day two.
Tuesday, 30th January
When we got down to breakfast and met up with the rest of the USA side, who were staying in the same hotel. It felt like we were back in Sheffield in 2022 as it was at that World Cup that we stayed together and became friends, which is how this tour came about. Day two was all about getting acclimatised to being on US time and giving the players a bit of cobweb shake on the court, playing a bit of basketball as well as rugby and having some fun.
We weren’t just there to play, we wanted to help our opponents too and it was this afternoon that our head of development and team manager Stephen Jones and referee Kim Abel, gave a match officials course to the whole of the US squad and management. Myrtle Beach is the golf capital of South Carolina, so some players chose to go to a driving range in the evening.
Wednesday, 31st January
We were getting the full American treatment. Gritz was on the menu for breakfast this morning (an option I hasten to add) and so were biscuits and gravy (we’d call it scones in mushroom sauce!). We visit the match venue for the first time today. Myrtle Beach Sports Center has an arena the size of eight basketball courts, it’s unbelievable. What they say about everything being bigger in the States is completely true. The facilities there are amazing too, surpassing the World Cup venue at Sheffield. If the Americans can keep the backing and support in place that they already have, I see no reason why they can’t make a good go of the 2029 Wheelchair World Cup. USA are being led by an Australian by the name of Andy Lucas, a Bulldogs fan who has been in the country for nine years, and his enthusiasm for the game, and for the USA to host a major tournament, is catching.
I don’t see any reason why this arena couldn’t host a World Cup on its own, in perhaps the traditional World Cup November slot. It’s actually big enough to hold two games at once if needed! Myrtle Beach has a population of around 40,000 but that rises to over 300,000 during the summer months and the area we stayed in was full of high-rise luxury holiday apartments. Most of those would be empty in November so teams can be easily accommodated, if their local authorities support them, and there may still be a few holiday makers around.
After retiring to watch some Premier League football in the afternoon, sadly for Mason Baker, Liverpool v Chelsea was on premium channel, Peacock, both sides went off to a giant (I said the Americans did everything in a large way) sports bar in the evening, the highlight for some being a sit-in game of Hungry Hippo (I’m not kidding, please see the photo!).
Thursday, 1st February
Staying in Myrtle Beach, right by the beach, has its advantages. A few of the players and management are early risers and walking the 100 metres to the sand before 7am was becoming a daily routine for some to watch the sun rise. However, despite this being the southern part of the USA, it’s still cold in early February. The photos and videos look fantastic, but it wasn’t that much above zero at that time of the morning.
It was an early start for the captain’s run, 9am at the Sports Center. Wales head coach Alan Caron knew what his team for Friday was going to be by this time so he could do a “starting line-up v the others” mini game as part of the session. Stephen Jones missed the session again as he was this time running a coaching course. Twelve referees and nine coaches have now been qualified which will help the Americans launch a domestic league.
The shirt presentation came straight after lunch, with the coaches presenting co-captains Jodie Boyd-Ward and Gary Preece with their shirts, then the two skippers giving the other eight players theirs. Physio and video analysis followed. More football on the TV – Wolves v Manchester United – and I expected Alan, a Wolverhampton native, to be in support of the amber and blacks, but no, he was a fully fledged red, and enjoyed the 4-3 win. A traditional American restaurant followed in the evening before an early night. Matchday one was looming.
Friday, 2nd February
Most of the team spent time at the hotel in the morning, but some went to the arena to film a drills video that will work as a training aid for coaching and refereeing. It’ll be available in multiple languages and be used for promotional material for the USA and other countries. It’s something that USA and Wales came up between them to assist the development of Wheelchair RL worldwide.
I was ready to film the Wales players arriving at the sports center. At the time our bus rocked up, the American side were relaxing outside in the sun, so instead of walking straight into the arena, the Welsh forgot their game-day focus and immediately greeted their rivals and everyone wished each other luck, not something you’d see much in the “running game”.
As the arena started to fill up, we had a surprise as our chaplain from the World Cup, also called Steve Jones, arrived. He was working in a neighbouring state so made the trip down to support us for the two games.
Team Manager Stephen Jones didn’t rest, well hardly anyway. When we were doing the last-minute preparations, we realised that pretty much the only thing that hadn’t been planned was the interchange official, so guess who had to step in? Yep, our Mr Jones again.
Match one was itself was as intense and brutal as you’d expect. All friendships we made a couple of years ago and caught up with this week went completely out of the window as the teams went hammer and tongs into each other. The hits were as big as we saw in the World Cup and in some cases, bigger and I lost count of the number of Welsh players that went 180 degrees onto that hard smooth surface and having to be manually picked up by someone not in a chair.
USA took an early lead but once we levelled within minutes, there was no looking back and our starting five didn’t want to come off. One of them had to on 35 minutes and all three subs did get some kind of run-out in the 78-24 win, with the scoreline slightly flattering us and not reflecting the effort the Americans put in. However, co-captain Gary Preece did describe it later as the best performance we’d put in during his time as a Wales player.
Saturday, 3rd February
Again, an early start for some, as the day at Myrtle Beach Sports Center wasn’t just going to be a match of Wheelchair Rugby League, there were demonstrations of other adaptive sports being played, like Wheelchair Basketball, Goalball, Wheelchair Tennis and Pickleball. Stephen Jones spent two hours teaching interested attendees, how to kick a goal in Wheelchair Rugby League.
The first match was so competitive, both sides refused to make any changes to their matchday squad of nine. For those who remember 2022, the World Cup was played with squads of ten. Now it’s been reduced, with there being just three on the bench with a ninth player only used in case of head injuries. It meant our youngest player Mason Baker didn’t get a game, mainly because of the intensity of the first and Alan Caron didn’t think he’d be ready. The real professional Mason is, he accepted that and was enjoying the tour for what it was.
Match two kicked off at 3pm and Wales actually played the same starting line-up as game one and in a pretty much perfect first half, led 28-0, ending up 52-22 winners. There was live commentary by one of the Americans throughout each game, to help all the interested newcomers, most of the crowd really, learn about the game.
The US side played well, their players had the chair skills but at times, one could see that they were more used to basketball. They’ll definitely get there especially now as they have the coaches and referees qualified so are able to start a domestic league. However, the players will have to travel. One of them, Gabi Cha, told me that just to attend training, she has to travel six hours and take two flights – that’s dedication.
Saturday night was party time in the hotel. The event was sponsored by “The Beers of America” so plenty of their free samples were gratefully consumed as both sides mixed for the final time.
Sunday, 4th February
A rest day. We all did our own thing. Souvenir shopping, eating, drinking, lying down, and for those who had just about recovered from the night before, went out for a final meal before our early start to the airport.
Monday, 5th February
An early start for the two hour drive to Charlotte Airport, change at Charleston then back to Wales (or England for some). The end of a job well done.
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 494 (March 2024)
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