Duo to represent Britain in Invictus Games - The Worcester Observer

Duo to represent Britain in Invictus Games

Worcester Editorial 10th Sep, 2014 Updated: 19th Oct, 2016   0

THE CAPTAIN of the city’s wheelchair basketball team and a former Worcester student have been selected to represent Great Britain at an event which aims to promote ‘life beyond disability’.

Adam Nixon, who captains Worcester Wolves wheelchair basketball team, and Rick Powell, who has previously studied at the University of Worcester, will be part of a 130-strong GB squad.

They will be competing at the Invictus Games, which begins today (Wednesday) and will see wounded servicemen and women from 14 nations come together to take part in a Paralympic-style multi-sport event in venues across the South East.

Adam served in the Royal Artillery for nine years before suffering serious injuries whilst on his second tour of duty in Iraq.




After undergoing extensive rehabilitation, his family suggested he continued his sporting passion by joining the Wolves’ wheelchair basketball team.

He said: “Basketball was always a passion of mine as a kid. After I left the forces, I spent a couple of years not doing too much, until my wife basically said ‘enough is enough’ and she and my sister helped to find a local club – the Worcester Wolves.”


Just 12 months on, Adam will lead Great Britain out at the Copper Box Arena next week, which will complete a remarkable turnaround and he said it would not have been possible without the city’s renowned wheelchair basketball programme.

“I was in complete shock when I found out I was going to be captain,” Adam said. “I wasn’t expecting it, but it is a huge honour – a massive honour.

“The wheelchair basketball programme at Worcester is phenomenal. We train at the University Arena and the St John’s campus, and I’ve been lucky enough to attend a couple of the GB women’s training camps held at the university.”

Rick, whose sporting options increased when he enrolled on the Paramedic course at the university after having his left leg amputated due to injuries sustained in Iraq, added: “When I started playing at Worcester there was only four of us, then four became ten and we now have two teams in the Central League and train with the GB women on a regular basis.”

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