Ready to tackle wheelchair rugby at Warrior Games

Ask Ben Owens which event he’s most looking forward to at the upcoming 2024 Warrior Games and he’ll give you a simple four-word answer: “Clash of the Titans.”

SUBTITLES: Team Australia’s Ben Owens, right, passes Jamie Adam Smyth during wheelchair rugby training in preparation for the 2024 Warrior Games. Story by Flying Officer Tina Langridge. Photo by Flight Sergeant Christopher Dickson.

According to him, audiences watching the wheelchair rugby matches live at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida, will witness a battle of epic proportions as Team Australia take on their American counterparts in this physical, but entertaining match. sport.

As for Mr. Owens, he will be right in the middle of the action, enjoying every minute of every painful encounter, knowing that his wife Melinda, children Cameron and Neve, and parents Barbara and Tony, will be cheering him loudly from the audience. stand.

“I will be grinning from ear to ear from the very first crack of metal and for the rest of my life. “I want it to be as big a clash as possible – the more noise and the more grunt, the better,” he said.

“Honestly, wheelchair rugby is the sport that motivated me to go to the Warrior and Invictus Games.”

SUBTITLES: Warrior Games 2024 competitor Ben Owens at the Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra, ACT. Photo by Flight Sergeant Ricky Fuller.

It was a seemingly simple episode of food poisoning during a United Nations mission to South Sudan in 2014 that led to the former army soldier’s eventual diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome, a condition in which the body’s immune system attacks the nerves attacks.

Although Mr. Owens was able to regain most of his leg and hand function after one or two years, the condition continued to deteriorate, so much so that a distinguished 30-year career as a signal officer and in project management ended with a medical discharge in 2019.

Owens acknowledged his unity and the support of the military and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs during this difficult time – and the continued support today – and also admitted he felt a bit lost until he went to the Invictus Games in Sydney in 2018 .

“I went into the room where wheelchair rugby was on, not knowing what it was, and when I saw the physicality and the fun and the camaraderie between the opponents, I knew I would be playing rugby for Australia at a future Invictus Games,” said the Mr Owens, who will also compete in sitting volleyball, archery and swimming during the adaptive sporting event.

SUBTITLES: Warrior Games 2024 Team Australia conducts wheelchair rugby training at the ESPN Athletics Center in Orlando, Florida. Photo by Flight Sergeant Christopher Dickson.

“I have experienced the same camaraderie at the Warrior Games camps – the immediate level of comfort and familiarity with everyone; the way we talk and take the mickey apart. It is wonderful to be among my own people again.”

While winning medals may be a bonus, it is the rugby actions on the field that matter most to Mr Owens.

“It’s us versus them – a ‘Clash of the Titans’. “I can’t wait to take on the best from each of the US teams and put them in their place,” he said.

“If I want to win, I have to earn it. If they’re going to win, I’ll make sure they earn it.”

The Department of Defense Warrior Games will be held June 21-30. It brings together hundreds of wounded, injured, underserved and former serving military members, including a team of 30 Australian participants.

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