The 'stigma' of being a non-disabled player in elite wheelchair sport

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There are few athletes in world sport quite like Bayley McKenna.

Shaggy-haired and expressive, he is the kind of player highlights packages are built around, and at 26, he is the youngest-ever captain of Australia's wheelchair rugby league team.

But what really sets him apart is his status as a non-disabled athlete in elite wheelchair sport, with international wheelchair rugby league allowing participation from both people with disability and non-disabled players.

Leading out the Wheelaroos at the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup, starting tomorrow in Wollongong, will undoubtedly be a pinch-me moment for the Townsville world-beater.

But it is also an occasion he approaches with some trepidation.

McKenna received a flood of online abuse during his breakout World Cup in 2022 and is now bracing for more negativity from outside the sport.

"There is such a f***ing stigma around able-bodied athletes playing in wheelchairs," McKenna told ABC Sport.

"It is ridiculous … I'd be lying to you if I said I was going into this World Cup not expecting it."

McKenna's journey towards the Wheelaroos began in 2006, when his father was involved in an accident and became a wheelchair user.

It was a tough period of transition for Darren McKenna, grappling with the realities of his disability and what it meant for his career, family and independence.

He was reluctant to accept assistance from anyone, but his six-year-old son gave him little choice.

"I pretty much said, 'I'm helping you no matter what,'" Bayley McKenna said.

"We did everything together. I was the only person allowed to push him in his wheelchair because I didn't really give him the option.

"I've been his little offsider ever since."

And it was not long before the father-son duo entered the sporting arena, first competing together in wheelchair basketball before finding wheelchair rugby league, which Darren McKenna was integral to growing in both Queensland and Australia-wide.

Participation from non-disabled players is vital to wheelchair sport at a grassroots level, allowing for more teams and competitions for disabled athletes, but wheelchair rugby league is unique in allowing international sides to field up to two non-disabled players at any given time.

This policy ensures that teams at every level of the sport can attract enough players to compete, while also fostering a unique kind of inclusion that flows from grassroots all the way to elite competition.

And the sport is full of stories like the McKennas' — including Australia's Cory Cannane, who shared the field with disabled father Craig at the 2022 World Cup, and non-disabled England legend Jack Brown, who only began playing the sport because of his disabled brother.

Having experienced the benefits of the policy firsthand, McKenna said it was that "inclusion" that provided the game much of its magic.

"I really, really didn't think that anything could have brought us closer together," McKenna said.

Wheelchair rugby league is also a mixed gender sport, although there are no women in the Wheelaroos' squad for the tournament.

McKenna burst onto the international scene at the 2022 World Cup in England, where his playmaking exploits earned him a spot in the team of the tournament as well as significant attention online.

Aged 22, McKenna's shaggy mullet, uncompromising hits and exceptional chair skills made for ideal social media fodder, with the Australian making regular appearances across the tournament's official channels.

McKenna was taken aback by the vitriol in the online correspondence he received as a result.

"I would have copped about a dozen messages from people all around the world saying, 'you're a fraud, you shouldn't even be in the chair, this is a sport for disabled people,'" McKenna said.

"These guys were coming at me, like, 'you're lucky you're not out there on the street by yourself.'"

It was only after an early-morning conversation with teammate and longtime friend Pete Arbuckle that McKenna began to feel at peace with the abuse.

"Me and Pete were at the gym over in the UK and I got one of these messages and Pete said, 'Don't worry about that bud, don't even stress. You're here representing your country and he's probably at home on the couch,'" McKenna said.

"That put me back in my stride a bit, and it helped me out a lot."

Recalling the conversation, Arbuckle said he reassured McKenna his journey to international competition was a "natural progression" from his early years playing alongside his amputee father.

"I said, 'You don't have to justify anything, you only have to justify yourself to us, your teammates. You don't have to justify yourself to anyone else on the planet,'" Arbuckle said.

"And he didn't let it affect him, and he had a really good World Cup."

Arbuckle, who lost a leg in an accident in 2016, said the contributions of non-disabled players have been vital to the growth of the sport in Australia.

"If it wasn't for the able-bodied players, I don't think we'd have the game here in Australia," Arbuckle said.

"We just wouldn't be feasible … there'd be no Wheelaroos to speak of, or certainly not at the level we're at currently."

McKenna said the rules of the game ensure it is a "level playing field" for all athletes, while both he and Arbuckle described their wheelchairs as equipment needed for the sport, analogous to cricket bats or baseball mitts.

"What people don't realise is this is a wheelchair sport; it's not a disability sport as such," Arbuckle said.

"We play a sport in wheelchairs, and our rules define what can and can't happen."

The upcoming tournament will provide wheelchair rugby league the kind of exposure most non-mainstream sports could only dream of.

Bundling the wheelchair competition with the men's, women's and physical disability events allows for the World Cups to be marketed as one cohesive product, and for the Wheelaroos to benefit with free-to-air, prime-time coverage.

Well aware of the looming watershed moment, Arbuckle said he hoped the attention would bring more disabled players into the fold.

"It's really going to open our game to people that haven't heard of it before and people that want to choose a physical sport," Arbuckle said.

"I think there's an untapped resource out there."

But the Wheelaroos, and McKenna in particular, are also bracing for the spotlight's burn.

The Australian captain is certain his inbox will once again turn ugly.

But this time, knowing he can call on the support of his teammates and loved ones, he said he will be ready.

"It's just going to be one of those things we move past and move forward, and don't let it get in the camp," McKenna said.

"I've got some f***ing damn good mates, bud.

"And they will support me until the cows come home."