Cork woman: ‘If I hadn’t found rugby..I don’t know where I’d be without it’

Cork woman Jade Flynn-Hurley is certain she wouldn’t be where she is in life if she hadn’t discovered wheelchair rugby.

The 27-year-old is urging other people with disabilities to keep searching until they find a sport that’s the right fit for them

Jade was speaking ahead of Women In Sport Week (WIS), which celebrates women and girls involved in sport as players, coaches, officials, volunteers, leaders, and professionals.

She plays with the Irish Wheelchair Association-Sport’s Wheelchair Rugby Team, Rebel Wheelers, and has competed internationally with the Irish Wheelchair Rugby Team.

Jade discovered mixed-gender wheelchair rugby at a sports summer camp hosted by Rebel Wheelers Multi-Sports Club around 13 years ago, and was hooked from the very start.

“I saw a demo at the camp, and I was immediately interested,” recalls Jade. “Not long after, the club’s wheelchair rugby team invited me to a training session and the rest is history!” said the MTU graduate.

The big attraction for Jade, besides really liking the sport, is that she doesn’t feel different when playing.

“Growing up, I did dancing and gymnastics, and I always felt awkward because I stood out from the rest due to being different, but rugby is the first sport where I really feel the same as everyone else. Everyone on the team has a common denominator, and we all have similar stories from growing up.

“I was born with a rare form of the rare genetic disorder Apert Syndrome, and was born with my fingers and feet fused together. I’ve had a lot of operations on my hands over the years, and they’ve been successful, which means I can type, drive, write – live life to the fullest. It doesn’t affect me, and I don’t see myself as different, but growing up, I suppose people might have stared at me, mainly children, and yes, that does impact you mentally, but rugby has been life-changing for me,” she said.

Before she started playing rugby, she said she didn’t really talk about her disability, “but all of the players on the national team have a story, just like I have. Hearing their stories has inspired me. It’s reminded me that yes, we’re different, but that’s ok, and we must live our lives.

“Honestly, if I hadn’t found rugby, I don’t know where I’d be without it – it has opened so many doors for me outside of sport.

“It gave me the confidence to go to college, earn a Bachelor’s degree, to have ambition to find a job that I really enjoy, to be independent and not reliant on my parents all the time,” she said.

A year or two after starting to play, Jade was invited to train with the national team and has since competed in Norway, Germany, Italy and France. Training is underway for the European Championships, which take place in Spain in May.

It’s a big commitment for Jade, who works as an admin co-ordinator with pharma company Gilead Sciences, with weekly club training and twice-monthly national training in Dublin, but she loves it.

“The game is played on a basketball court, and it’s different to able-bodied rugby. There’s no scrums or tackles. The ball is a volleyball that is thrown forward rather than behind. It’s high contact, there’s a lot of chair bashing, and we use especially reinforced chairs. We’re strapped in, so if we get flipped, and it happens, we don’t separate from the chair.

“The worst injuries I’ve had are luckily just a few hand sprains where my fingers got caught between the wheels and the chair.”

Jade is currently the only female player on the Irish team.

“I’m hoping more females get involved as we grow awareness of the sport through initiatives like Women in Sport (WIS) week,” she said.

“It is male-dominated, but you’re not treated any different because of your gender. It’s all-inclusive – and I really feel that it could change other women’s lives. They might think it’s not for them, but that’s what I thought initially too!”

Women in Sport (WIS) week was launched in March, 2021, and has been held annually since, this year running from March 2-8. It celebrates and promotes women’s sport while increasing the visibility of women across all areas of sport.

It was set up as a Sport Ireland initiative, and this year’s theme is Same Energy - a call to all of us to show up for women’s sport with the same anticipation, visibility, and respect it deserves, every day.

Shannon Pollock, Women in Sport coordinator at IWA-Sport, said: “Women in Sport Week is important because it shines a light on opportunity, not limitation. It reminds us that when women are given equal access, the right supports, and welcoming environments, participation in sport becomes empowering rather than intimidating.

“Enabling women to take part fully in Para Sport is not just about inclusion — it is about recognising talent, building confidence, and ensuring every woman feels she belongs on the field, in the club, and within the sporting community. True participation in Para Sport happens when accessibility, informed coaching, and peer support come together, allowing women to progress, lead, and belong.

“The most powerful impact is when women see role models who reflect their own journeys, proving that sport is not only possible but empowering — something embodied by long-standing member and Wheelchair Rugby player Jade Flynn-Hurley.”

Jade concluded: “If you told me 10 years ago that I’d be in the position that I am now, I’d have laughed at you. I could never even have dreamt it, but I really see a different side to life now.”