At the start of the year, inaugural South Wales Jets Wheelchair head coach Dave White wouldn’t have believed that he’d be coaching in a Grand Final, with his daughter in the squad.
The Jets take on Cardiff Blue Dragons in the WRL Wheelchair Grand Final at Llandrindod Wells Sports Centre this Sunday (kick-off 1.30pm) and White is delighted to be involved.
“I answered a plea on a WhatsApp group,” White explains. “The Jets Wheelchair side were looking for a coach, so I thought I’d give it a go. Everyone has welcomed me with open arms and it’s been a fabulous experience.
“I’ve a couple of years of experience under my belt coaching at the Jets in the junior sides, so I’m hoping I’m bringing that into the wheelchair game because it’s so similar, it’s unbelievable.
“This competition may be over after Sunday, but now I’ve started in Wheelchair Rugby League, I’d love to continue to do it.”
With four Welsh and one Irish international in the Jets squad, there’s some experience there, and White is grateful for that.
“The players have been absolutely fabulous and they’ve all been outstanding, every single one of them,” he said.
“They’ve not needed a great deal from me. They go out on the pitch and they know what they’re doing, it’s no surprise that many of them are capped Wales internationals.
“A Wheelchair Rugby League pitch is so small and the wheelchair isn’t the most agile of things, but they seem to manage to pull space out from nowhere.”
Jets beat Cardiff well in the regular season, but White knows it will be a different encounter on Sunday.
“I know that Cardiff is going to be a tougher prospect than it was two weeks ago,” he said. “They’ve got a couple of experienced players back. We’re not going to take them lightly at all. We’ll give them the respect that they deserve.
“Hopefully our guys can do what they do on the pitch and as they always do, you know, and hopefully we’ll come out with a strong start.
“We’ve won game we’ve played this season, we’ve come out with our strongest side, and we’ve like it was it was a final every game.
“So hopefully the guys can bring that intensity as they’ve done to every game this year and you know, we’ll have a good run out.”
White is also delighted to have brought his 16-year-old daughter Hannah into the side, giving her the first opportunity to play competitive sport.
“It’s really opened my eyes to how all inclusive rugby league is, and the passion that the Jets players have is absolutely phenomenal. They’ve welcomed both of us into the club with open arms.
“I just wish that we could have a better outreach and get more of the Welsh community clubs involved, that’d be fantastic for not just Wales Rugby League, but for the wheelchair game.”
