\n Eyan Naylor, 48, led the England Wheelchair Rugby Fives team to success in Nottinghamshire, securing the first title of its kind in the competition\u2019s debut year.\n<\/p>\n
\n As the name suggests, wheelchair rugby fives includes five players on court, whereas the Paralympic discipline has four.\n<\/p>\n
\n While Paralympic wheelchair rugby is designed primarily for tetraplegic players, the fives discipline is open to a wider range of athletes, including paraplegic players and anyone with a physical impairment.\n<\/p>\n
\n Reflecting on the achievement, Eyan said; “It’s just mind-blowing. Everybody put everything on that court, it was just amazing.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Eyan Naylor (Image: Supplied)\n<\/p>\n
\n England sealed the title in a tense deciding match against Wales with Eyan explaining that at half time they were about four points down, saying ‘we had a lot to recover,’ he added: “We went point for point at one stage; it could have been anybody’s game – and then we pushed it over the edge. I still can’t get my head around it, it doesn’t feel real.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Despite the historic win, Eyan believes this is only the beginning for the team, hinting that ‘massive things’ lie ahead.\n<\/p>\n
\n Eyan Naylor (Image: Supplied)\n<\/p>\n
\n He described the experience as emotional and life-changing, adding: \u201cThis is the first step in creating a pathway for future generations. It still doesn\u2019t feel real.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Eyan also hopes the sport\u2019s more inclusive classification system will encourage more disabled people to get involved in competitive sport.\n<\/p>\n
\n He was born with a club foot, meaning his right foot was twisted and deformed.\n<\/p>\n
\n In August 2020 Eyan made the decision to have his leg amputated below the knee \u2013 a move he says transformed his life.\n<\/p>\n
\n Success for England wheelchair rugby team (Image: Eyan Naylor)\n<\/p>\n
\n Despite captaining the England team to success, Eyan never expected to be picked for the role.\n<\/p>\n
\n Upon finding out that not only had he made the team but had also been picked as captain, he said: “I burst into tears.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I was born with a limb deficiency, and in the late 70s and early 80s, people with a disability were shunned. I was never invited to things and always on the side-lines… I grew up feeling like a nobody.\n<\/p>\n
\n “In that moment, I was given the biggest honour. Even if this never happens again, that day I became a somebody.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eyan Naylor, 48, led the England Wheelchair Rugby Fives team to success in Nottinghamshire, securing the first title…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":504884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-504883","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/504884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}