Stevenage Town hopes to have a disabled rugby team in place by the end of the 2003/2004 season following the success of a taster day when over 60 children with various disabilities turned up at the Stevenage Leisure Centre to enjoy rugby.

Run in partnership with the local borough council and The English Federation of Disability Sport, the day catered for all the needs of the young people attending from those with moderate learning disability to those in wheelchairs with severe physical disabilities. For most of them it was the only time outside of their respective schools that they had the chance to play any sport at all and they thoroughly enjoyed the various skills sessions before playing each other in a tag rugby game.

Paralympic gold medal swimmer Gemma Dashwood was there to present everyone with certificates and T-shirts. Prior to the event the club’s coaches had attended two disabled coaching courses and they now intend to develop the sessions by visiting local disability schools over the coming months.
The aim is have a group of the learning disabled and minor physically disabled training outdoors alongside the club’s youth teams when the new season starts in September this year.