USA parasports champion Lisa Maddox is a relative newcomer to Wheelchair Rugby League but she is keen to learn as much as possible to take back home and give the sport a boost across the Atlantic, writes IAN GOLDEN.
USA PARASPORTS player Lisa Maddox has come to Britain for a month to help improve her wheelchair rugby league skills.
Basing herself in Cardiff, she’s trained with the Blue Dragons side but has also ended up playing for Hereford Harriers in the RFL Wheelchair Championship West.
That league itself is fast becoming a two-horse race between the Harriers and North Wales Crusaders, with the two sides meeting in late June and the Crusaders losing an RFL organised wheelchair rugby league game for the first time in two years.
The RFL Wheelchair Championship is divided into three regional leagues, West, East and South, with play-offs and a Grand Final to follow at the end of the season. It’s unsure yet whether this will result into promotion to Super League, where Warrington Wolves, who have been distinctly unimpressive in the Championship, were demoted from last year, but there are a few people who are fans of having the Championship winner taking on the bottom side in Super League, currently Hull FC, for a place in next year’s top competition.
Maddox was a spectator at the Harriers-Crusaders encounter.
“The Crusaders game was so intense,” she said. “I didn’t play in that game as it was a grudge match between two sides of international players and I wasn’t used.
“However I played the full second half against Rochdale Hornets, which was amazing, and maybe ten minutes against Warrington.
“I’ve also been lucky enough to train with Cardiff Blue Dragons in the Welsh League and I played against Crusaders again, as well as Torfaen Tigers. I’ve learned so much from Alana Sargent, head coach at Cardiff and she’s given me so much help during my time in Wales.”
Maddox is a multiple parasports champion in the US. She’s won multiple Wheelchair Tennis titles and was the US women’s number one in that sport in 2017. She’s also competed in pickleball, air rifle, slalom, softball and of course wheelchair basketball, one of the most popular parasports in the US.
But it wasn’t always the case that she played parasports. Up until 2006, she had two legs.
Following high school, she went into the United States Military Academy West Point, where she played basketball and then she qualified as a doctor.
Whilst serving in the US Army, she developed complex regional pain syndrome, which is a chronic condition that forced her to have her left leg amputated above the knee in 2006. After her rehabilitation, she took up wheelchair basketball and the rest is history.
Back in February, the Welsh national wheelchair rugby league side went to South Carolina to play two international matches against the USA (see Rugby League World issue 494). Whilst Maddox didn’t play in either of those games, she was in the US squad and struck up a close friendship with many of the Welsh side, including this writer.
So why has she come over to Britain for a month just to play wheelchair rugby league?
“I came over to learn,” she said. “I chose this area because of Wales head coach Alan Caron, who also coaches Hereford Harriers, as I knew I could work a lot with him.
“I needed to play more games and train from international coaches and I’ve done that. I also feel I can assist, using a lot of the knowledge I have from other sports and seeing how I can bring that over to rugby league.
“I still have a lot to learn but people here are very helpful, knowledgeable and respectful.
“When I go back to the USA, I want to bring back techniques, different ways of training and some of the mentality about how to play and some of the fundamentals that we really don’t do.”
USA competed in the World Cup in 2022 in England and won their first game, which was against Scotland, but the sport is still very much in its infancy over the pond and Maddox has ideas of how to increase participation.
She said: “We really need to give a lot of leg work and groundwork to find players.
“I’ve spoken to Andy Lucas, our national team manager, an Australian who brought wheelchair rugby league to the US, and what I want to do is to speak to the US National Wheelchair Basketball Association because those are the types of players who have the mentality to enjoy this sport. That sport has a ready-made database – there could be over a thousand players that we could introduce to wheelchair rugby league whilst they still play wheelchair basketball.
“I think it’s going to take a lot of funding as we’re going to have to physically reach out to the coaches of these different teams and physically go and visit them at practices, show them what rugby league is and then encourage them to go back and start teams and leagues themselves.
“Getting wheelchair rugby league going in Canada would also be good and then we could have international matches between the two of us on a regular basis.”
Maddox played her final games in Britain, for now, in the WRL National Development League on Sunday, 14th July for Hereford Harriers against both Torfaen Tigers and Argonauts, and for her it brought an enjoyable end to her four-week experience.
She said: “I’ve loved what I’ve seen over here both in the English and Welsh leagues and I hope to be the first of many to come over to learn and play.
“What I like about wheelchair rugby league is that everyone who plays in the sport is so passionate about the game.
“One of things that I didn’t understand initially was that it’s a very inclusive sport. People who don’t have disabilities are able to play.
“It’s especially good for young people. I was delighted to play against my 12-year old friend Alys Golden and alongside team-mates at Cardiff aged from nine years old to 58 years old.
“Wheelchair rugby league does wonders for everyone’s self-esteem and self-worth, increasing and helping their mood. It’s such a wonderful sport to be involved in. I wish all sides the best of luck in their league campaigns and I’m now looking forward to going back to the USA to help get things going.”
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 499 (August 2024)
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