Wheelchair Rugby: Bay's Jennings makes Wheel Blacks

Coming Through: Hawke's Bay's Tyler Jennings attempts to evade Northland's Cameron Leslie during yesterday's Wheelchair Blacks training squad game in Taradale. Photo/Paul Taylor

Before Hawke's Bay's Tyler Jennings turned 11 he had 11 legs and he was happy to show them off if one asked.

Jennings, now 21, was born with two rare birth defects; proximal femoral focal deficiency and ulnar hemimelia. This means he has a shortened arm, several fingers missing and a prosthetic leg which required regular upgrades during his youth.

In the wake of his latest national selection, for the Wheel Blacks Rugby team, to play in a Christchurch-hosted international tournament next month Jennings is unlikely to require as many leg upgrades as he will be spending more time on his backside.

"I'm going to have to spend more time training but wheelchair rugby will still be my third priority behind my one-year-old son Riley and my job," the Apex Car Rentals worker explained.

The Wheel Blacks training squad is in Napier for this weekend's Four-Team Bash tournament at Taradale's Pettigrew-Green Arena. It is part of the selection process for next month's tournament, the 2018 World Champs in Sydney and the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

A former New Zealand Junior Paralympics swimming representative, Jennings, missed selection for the 2012 Paralympics in London with a bout of glandular fever.

"It would be awesome to get to Tokyo but I still must put my son and job first."

Jennings only took up wheelchair rugby two years ago.

"They had a have a go day at Napier Boys High School and I was the only one to last more than a couple of sessions," he recalled.

His Hawke's Bay team is the newest on the national tournament scene and has finished mid-table at the two nationals it has attended. It has yet to make the headlines Jennings did during his days with the Greendale Swimming Club.

A former rugby player, basketballer and footballer, Jennings, returned from the 2007 national Paralympic swimming championships with six medals and a New Zealand record.
His then coach Noel Hardgrave-Booth described him as a fast learner during those times and he is an equally as fast learner on the wheelchair rugby scene.

His assists were spot on and he scored the last goal during a game between two even sides selected from the Wheel Blacks training squad. His team was pipped 57-56 and he was flung from his wheelchair during the final minute.

"It's not uncommon for me to full out three or four times during a game," Jennings said.
While he was classy on the fast break for a bloke small in stature he wasn't afraid to do his share of the physical work against heavier and bigger opponents. This weekend he will be one of four Hawke's Bay players in the Four-Team Bash which will involve four composite teams.

Marinda and Glen Jones and Eddie "Fast Hands" Brain will be the others. At least eight members of the Hawke's Bay Magpies team will give the sport a crack today.

"We will mix them up with some of our players first and then we might let them play together as a team once they get the hang of it. That's when we will give them the bash," Wheel Black and Northland sports journalist Cameron Leslie promised.

"When we've had first class rugby players from other provinces give our code a go in the past they've been surprised by the high level of fitness required and the different conditioning involved," Leslie said.

He pointed out the sport isn't only for quadreplegics. Anybody who has three or four limbs or was born with a disability can play.

"If your are thinking of playing check out the Hawke's Bay Wheelchair Rugby Facebook page," Leslie added.