PUKDS Wheelchair Rugby Club took to the court in Sunderland at the Beacon of Light against the mighty Barbarians in a 10 minute, 4 quarter match.

The event, aimed at raising the awareness of adaptive and inclusive sports to the International Police Community, was witnessed by a delegation of almost 40 members from international police forces representing the International Police Association IPA.

The IPA Section UK Chair presented PUKDS with a plaque to mark the occasion, adding that this was a fantastic opportunity to show the police family the power of adaptive sport.

The match:

PUKDS started hesitantly, trying to find their way around a very well organised Barbarians team. With the Barbarians taking a commanding 4 point lead by the end of the first quarter, finishing 12-8.

The second quarter, you could see the police team starting to find the patterns in play, required to break down the Barbarians defence, and by half time the lead was reduced to 3 points.

The half time buzzer sounded and both teams took a well earned break. This being the first time either team has played in a match of 10 minute quarters.

The start of the second half and the police team came out strong, putting points on the board through tactical play and securing a number of turn overs. Not only was the gap reduced, but in the space of just a couple of minutes, PUKDS took the lead. But by the end of the 3rd quarter, the Barbarians had found their composure again and took the lead by just 1 point.

It all came down to the last quarter, so with end to end scoring, and turn overs being matched with turn overs, the score was still just 1 point in the balance in favour of the Barbarians. With a minute to go, a long pass up court could've secured PUKDS with a score to draw level, meaning the prospect of extra time. But... The pass was incomplete and the Barbarians turned the ball over to score. With just seconds on the clock, time had run out for the police team to get back into the match and it finished with Barbarians taking a very slender lead 28 - 26.

This match had it all, big hits, truck and trailer, tactical awareness and team effort. A fantastic match played in the spirit of the sport.

After the match, the delegation of international police members were invited down to the court, where they had the opportunity to meet the teams and speak with the players about their journeys through adaptive sport.

We also had the opportunity to get some of the delegates in to chairs and experience the game first hand, which was very well received, to the point it was difficult to end the event and get them back out of the chairs owing to having too much fun and we even had some big hits too.

Presentations, photos and speeches followed and we are very pleased to confirm that the event was a success. The delegation has gone away with plenty to think about and we now look towards a bright future in developing a partnership with the IPA to bring even more adaptive sports to the UK and International police community.

We are now planning a series of sporting events where we hope to take on other nations police forces to build up the momentum heading towards the IPA Games in Poland 2026.

More photos, video and interviews to follow, so please keep coming back for further news up updates.

Photos credited to Julie Naylor, Karen Duckworth and Dan Prince.