Shae Graham went across to Paris to compete in the Women’s Cup, the only international event exclusively for women in wheelchair rugby.

The Women’s Cup featured full squads from Great Britain and Canada, as well as Graham, who was one of three Australians integrated into teams composed of players from Europe, the United States, and South Korea.

Wheelchair rugby is currently a mixed-gender sport at the Paralympic Games, where four women were named to the team squads at Tokyo 2020. Graham made history as the first woman to represent the Australian Steelers at a Paralympic Games in Tokyo and, barely a year later, two other female players joined her in the team that won the World Championships.

“Hopefully, a competition like this will encourage and grow female participation in wheelchair rugby,” Graham said. “Who knows, one day it may lead to more all-women competitions and eventually a women’s world championship.”

Graham described the tournament held at Centre Sportif Émile Anthoine in central Paris as a great experience, which allowed her to play in a different team role with players she had never played with before.

“The competition was open to women at all levels of their rugby journey, and I found it really rewarding trying to mentor and play with and against the next generation of international superstars,” she said. “The competition gave me the opportunity to take on different roles and push myself to improve and grow as a player.”

Graham will now spend the next months focusing on the National League in Australia, aiming to be selected for the Asia Oceania Championships in Japan at the end of June.

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Photo courtesy of Melanie Butez via Victorian Institute of Sport

Courtesy of Victorian Institute of Sport