Items22The creator’s order
  1. 1Wheelchair basketballWheelchair basketballThe easiest team sport to just turn up and try. You need no chair of your own to start: in the UK, local clubs will usually lend you a sports chair and show you how to handle it, and the British Wheelchair Basketball club finder takes a postcode and lists the nearest clubs. UK clubs also let…0
  2. 2Wheelchair rugbyWheelchair rugbyThe full-contact option, built for players with impairments affecting all four limbs. It began as a sport for people with spinal injuries at that level and is now open to anyone whose disability affects all four limbs, which makes it the obvious team sport for many people with tetraplegia who find…0
  3. 3Wheelchair rugby leagueWheelchair rugby leagueThe most inclusive of the contact team sports. Teams mix wheelchair users and non-disabled players, men and women of any age, all playing seated, so the chair itself levels the field. Tackles are made by pulling a tag rather than by collision, which keeps it open to players who would not choose the…0
  4. 4Wheelchair tennisWheelchair tennisThe sport that fits most easily into an ordinary week, because it needs nothing special from the venue. It is played on any standard court with normal rackets and balls, and the only rule change is that a wheelchair player may let the ball bounce twice before returning it. That makes mixed games…0
  5. 5HandcycleHandcycleHandcycling The best route to long-distance cardio outdoors, on roads, paths or a closed circuit, at your own pace or in organized rides and races. Many types of handcycle exist to suit different impairments, so trying before buying matters. In the UK, Hand Cycling UK runs taster weekends at…0
  6. 6Wheelchair racingWheelchair racingFor anyone who wants speed and a stopwatch. Racing wheelchairs let athletes reach 18 mph or more, and track events run from the 100m sprint to the 1500m. The practical way in is your local athletics club, which WheelPower names as the best place to start; ask whether it coaches wheelchair racing…0
  7. 7Para swimmingPara swimmingPara swimming The one activity here that takes you out of the chair entirely. Swimming is open to people with a very wide range of physical, sensory and intellectual impairments, from relaxed lane swimming to classified competition. Access is the first thing to check. In the UK the law requires…0
  8. 8Powerchair footballPowerchair footballThe team sport built for people who use electric wheelchairs, and one of very few designed around them. Players of all ages, impairments and genders compete together on the same teams. You do not need a sports chair to start. Many clubs can supply everything needed to try a session, and some can…0
  9. 9Sledge hockeySledge hockeyPara ice hockey (sled hockey) Fast, physical and played out of the chair. Players sit on double-bladed sleds that let the puck pass beneath and carry two sticks, each with a spiked end to push across the ice and a blade end to shoot. UK clubs mix disabled and non-disabled players, and the sport…0
  10. 10Wheelchair fencingWheelchair fencingA sport of pure reaction and upper-body skill. The chairs are clamped to the piste in a metal frame, so there is no footwork or chair handling to master: the bout is decided by blade work alone, with modified foil, épée and sabre. It is open to athletes with spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy,…0