Wheelchair Rugby Australia finalises separation from Disability Sports Australia

Disability Sports Australia (DSA) has announced a historic sports governance change for the sport of wheelchair rugby, having successfully developed and transitioned Wheelchair Rugby Australia (WRA) organisation through the support of its pioneering Sports Incubator program to become a stand-alone organisation.

The DSA Sports Incubator was developed to support and provide expertise to national sporting organisations and recreation program providers to initiate, develop and grow new sport and social active recreation opportunities for people with a disability.

The incubation process includes access to best practice governance and framework documentation, access to support services and guidance relating to funding and events to assist sports develop a sustainable future for their community and members.

In June 2019, DSA made the decision to create a separate division for Wheelchair Rugby Australia, with the goal of supporting WRA through a transition where it would eventually be able to operate as an independent organisation governing the sport of wheelchair rugby in Australia.

Since that time, WRA has demonstrated considerable improvement in a number of critical areas, including the increased professionalism of the Santos Wheelchair Rugby National Championships, the reinvigoration of the Wheelchair Rugby National League and the alignment of state program calendars with the Steelers’ (Australian wheelchair rugby team) national calendar

Explaining the transition, Disability Sport Australia Chief Executive, Murray Elbourn stated “the transition of Wheelchair Rugby Australia through our Sports Incubator program is wonderful news for the entire disability sports community. This transition provides a successful example that we hope other sports may follow in the future, and establishes a united, best-practice landscape so that more Australians with disability will be able to participate in this great sport.

“It has been a pleasure to support and witness the growth and development of Wheelchair Rugby Australia over the past few years and I want to in particular highlight the significant work that Chris Nay has done to create the environment for this transition to occur. We now look forward to seeing the sport continue to thrive on its own long into the future.”

This week has also seen WRA announce the appointment of Chris Nay (pictured) as its inaugural Chief Executive.

Revealing Nay’s appointment, WRA Chair, Steve Loader stated “over the past three years, Chris has demonstrated his ability to grow the sport as General Manager of Wheelchair Rugby at DSA.

“He has been influential in establishing a pathway for competitions, negotiating positive sponsorship outcomes and improving the sport’s profile through broadcast deals and commercial initiatives.”

Click here to find out more about Disability Sports Australia’s Sport Incubator program.