My name is Stephanie McAllister and I set up the team for several reasons.... I wanted to provide a team environment for anybody who wishes to compete in a team, but not necessarily take on the commitment of joining and attending an actual club. Some of the athletes come from areas where this would not be possible anyway, as there are not any sports clubs in their area for them to join. So rather than them having to attend events as an individual entry, they can come and enter under our team and always have people supporting them. This has meant that we have made friends from all over the UK, which has turned out to be great, as we would not necessarily have gotten to know them other wise. At present we have athletes with disabilities such as Dwarfism, Albinism, Cerebral Palsy, Paraplegia, Ehlers- Danlos Syndrome Type 3 and Downs Syndrome. 3 of our athletes have both a physical and learning disability, so this has been great for me, as I have welcomed the challenge of finding different methods for each individual athlete to flourish. This in turn, I feel, has made me a better team manager and coach. People with disabilities are always told that we do not fit into the same box; so my challenges have been to think out side of the box and together the team has benefited from this as well as me personally. There is not one member of the team who can not be of help to others and it is great to watch people grow in confidence with each competition we attend.

In the season of 2007 we had 8 athletes who competed on a regular basis and we managed to win a tally of well over 200 medals and 9 trophies; 2 of which were team trophies for overall winning team. We did not place lower than 3rd place overall at any of the comps, which is brilliant for a newly formed team. I hope Team Colours UK goes on for many years and continues to grow and I look forward to being a part of that.

We are a sports team for people with disabilities in the UK. If you like sport and having a laff, check us out:

www.teamcoloursuk.org.uk

As we are a non profit organisation we are always open to sponsorship or donations, and at the same time, we are willing to help out anybody else who needs help fundraising.

I write this knowing that I could well offend some people, but I would like to know, why Britain has launched yet another campaign to raise funding for disabled children and young adults in aid of the 2012 Games in London?  Please don't get me wrong, I am all up for helping kids get the equipment in order to participate in sport; but I am also aware that as soon as you reach 27yrs, you are too old for most charities grants!

Kids are actually the easiest group to get funding for, as people see them as these cute little commodities and get a big sense of fulfillment at helping them out. You are also ok if you have a spinal cord injury, CP or are Visually impaired; but there are a lot of adults who become disabled later on in life, so can miss the deadlines that many charities hold. I do not in any way have an issue with people wanting to help out children, so please do not think that is where I am coming from; as I am heavily involved in providing help to kids who need to know where to get their funding from; what I have issues with, is our government saying that as from the age of 27yrs, you are no longer worth them investing in. Why.......?

I first tried out Wheelchair Athletics 3yrs ago, because that was the first time anyone had actually asked me if I knew what was on the circuit for people in wheelchairs who want to participate in sport but not track. On TV I have seen people throwing from a throwing frame with CP and I have seen athletes on the track, such as Tanni Gray; but never an athlete I could associate as being like me in the throwing events; and this is why I only started 3yrs ago. In my first season I made it to the Southern Regional championships, but did not know about the British Open Athletics Championships held in Manchester until October last year; which is when I started contacting people about the distances I would need to be throwing in order to qualify for this years championships. You can only imagine my excitement when I found out I was already throwing the qualifying distances and more...so I got the entry forms, a personal sponsorship deal to pay for my entry and accommodation and I sent everything away for the games in June.

When I got to Manchester, it was my first experience of competing against athletes from across the world, so I was very star struck; but so excited at the same time. I entered three events and came away with two Silvers and one Bronze; so it was a huge success for me and I will be competing in next year's championships too; but..........! Before I could even think about participating in athletics, I needed to get myself a sports wheelchair, my god.....talk about red tape, politics (or bolitics) and a whole bunch of crap about how these charities, whilst understanding my want to get into sports were very sorry but under no circumstances will they consider a case on mitigating circumstances, as they have to draw the line somewhere! Why?

I decided to take matters into my own hands and decided to do a 5000m sponsored swim with my friend Ryan. We both had to complete the 5000m each without stopping once, unless there was a medical emergency; but there wasn't and we completed it 3hrs quicker than anyone had anticipated. ITV Meridian and ITV London followed the story and gave me tremendous support as they too wanted to know, why I wasn't eligible for any governmental or charity funding, when I was already throwing distances that could qualify in major competitions; especially as we have the 2012 Paralympics in London. We managed to raise the money for my sports chair and I decided then, that I had to be the one to make a change in the parameters of funding.

I am in a wheelchair as a result of medical intervention going wrong, but I decided not to go down the bitter and twisted route as I prefer being happy; and wanted to also be an example for people like my son and friends around me, that putting aside the physical challenges and pain; you can actually achieve a lot and live life to the full. As Matthew is registered disabled due to his joint condition, I needed him to understand that whilst we can't cure him, we can help him to feel good about himself by competing, participating and helping out others in disabled sport.

Wheelpower have just launched wheeladeal in order to raise money for children and young adults, again to provide wheelchairs and equipment for them; in the hope that they can provide young athletes with the base platform towards them getting to the 2012 Games.

Why can't the criteria be aimed at children and 'aspiring athletes'? Then surely it will show that people like me are valued before we actually win the medals for their glory. God that sounds so bitter, but I honestly don't mean it to; it's just that in disabled sport there are already a lot of people who segregate "real" disabled athletes with spinal cord injuries against people like me, who are in a wheelchair, but you're not actually paralysed. Do you know how much that hurts??? I got told 9yrs ago I would have been better off if I was paralysed; as I have very restricted rotation and stability in my trunk; but yes...I can move my legs (with pain that is!!).

In my profile have said that I want to make a change for myself, my family and anyone else who needs someone in the corner; this is what I was referring to. I want people to stop comparing disabilities and trying to work out who is and isn't worse off. Shit man, we should all be supporting each other. Disability brings enough crap to everyday life as it is, so stop giving us more and let those of us who want to do something positive in life do it!!

Hopefully one day, somebody without a disability will be able to understand where I am coming from and lend us their support in enlightening this country to help us medical mishaps and old buggers get the same treatment as the cute and unfortunate spinal injured athletes!

Two years ago I wanted to give the sport 'Wheelchair Skating' a go, as I had seen a poster of Darwin Holmes on the wall of my wheelchair supplier Carl Payne of Colours UK. The poster showed Darwin dropping in on a 30ft vert ramp!!! I was in awe, but also had the instant impulse to go and try this for myself.

Two days after I got my wheelchair (Boing) I went to my local skate park with a good mate Ryan. My chair has independent suspension on all four wheels, so I knew the ride was going to be exciting. I just didn't know how exciting it was going to be; I was hooked. I started on the half pipe pumping the chair and utilizing it's flow. It was a great feeling, I mean; when were hills ever any fun for someone in a wheelchair? This was, you push off on one side of the half pipe and follow through flow to the other side  increasing momentum as you go a long.

Within an hour I was ready to try my first roll in from a fairly high ramp (well...high for a newbie like me anyway!). It was awesome, I loved it. Not only did I feel really high up, but the speed was awesome and I didn't feel afraid once. We took photo's of the not so glamorous session, but couldn't believe what we had achieved in one session!

The following week Ryan and I were in Farnborough Skate park being filmed by ITV Meridian tonight news crew on wheelchair skating. We had never done an actual drop in before that night, but had decided that if ever there was a time to just do it, it was now. We had an interview with the reporter first and then did some filming of our first attempts of the drop ins. How awesome!!!! we did it first time and what's more we did it without bailing. We did a few more shoots of that and then went onto an 8ft drop in. It's not that high I guess to many people, until you get to the top in a wheelchair. Then it feels like a 10ft ramp. We went ahead and rolled in and over the box on to a quarter pipe. By this time we had attracted a rather large audience, but they were more in awe than anything else as none of them had seen anyone doing wheelchair skating before; so I guess it totally blew out the image of disabled people being fragile, so we did more than introduce the sport to a lot of people, we helped them understand that we can be as nuts as the person next to them.

Since realising I have a good chance of getting somewhere in my athletics, I haven't skated for about a year, but I do intend to do some more next summer, as I want to go to Dagenham; as they have a concrete park with a great bowl. I have never had the chance to skate in a concrete park; but in doing so, there are a lot of tricks I can try out; that I just can't achieve at my local skate parks. My biggest goal is to perform a 360 rear wheel wheelie, like Aaron Fotheringham does; as I don't know anyone in this country who can do it yet. But I am quite happy to watch someone do it, if they have already achieved this.

Wheelchair Skating is massive in the States and I think we have a fairly good following in the UK, but a lot of the skate parks that are indoors, are out of bounds to us because we are a safety risk, which totally pisses me off; so some day I intend to address this and get it changed' cos it's not like we're gonna end up in a wheelchair, cos we're already there!!

Go give it a try and let me know how you got on and send me your photo's.

 British Open Athletics Championships

15th - 17th June 2007

At

Manchester Sport City Arena

My name is Stephanie McAllister and this article is about the Athletics championship I attended on the 15^th - 17^th 2007.

This was my 1^st International event in athletics, so I was really excited and unsure all rolled in to one. I knew that I would enjoy competing, but I didn't know what to expect either. I think the biggest thing on my mind, was whether I would get my classification from the IPC (International Paralympic Committee). Without one of these I would not be eligible for GB selection and this is what I am aiming for. The medical wasn't half as bad as I had imagined; although I will be honest, it was quite intimidating, as I had six people doing the assessment. Thankfully some were just observing though lol. Basically they got me to do very similar actions that most Orthopaedic consultants have got me to do before. After the medical I was asked to give the panel a few minutes to deliberate on their decision. As I do not have an actual Spinal Cord Injury I was really nervous I would not be allocated a classification, but it was a huge relief when I got assigned my F56. The first thing I did was called my mum and got as far as "I've got it" before the relief just overwhelmed me and I was crying down the phone.

For the first time in ages though, these were tears of relief and acceptance. I have made myself a life promise that I will leave this earth having made a difference and one of the first things on that list, is to bring awareness that you don't have to be an SCI sufferer to be genuinely disabled. There seems to be a lot of politics around this area, with people not being accepted in certain associations of sport because you don't have paralysis or Cerebral Palsy. This doesn't make us people with rare conditions or progressive disorders any less disabled! And yet, the one thing we would all rather be without, is our disabilities; so is it right to have to prove you have a disability you don't even want? I don't think so!

Two hours after my medical was my first event Discus. I was competing against 2 other athletes, one from Kuwait and the other was from Slovenia. Thankfully I was 2^nd to throw, so it gave me the opportunity to observe my opponent's technique, as I don't have one because I don't train yet. I am in the process of looking for a club to train with, but I hadn't been successful before this competition; but hey ho, I had a blast. I did fairly well and placed 2^nd; but I was meters off my best distance. Next I had the Javelin the following day and for this event I was competing in a pool of 9 athletes. This made me buzz, I love riding on the adrenaline lol. I threw second to last and again came 2^nd. This time I was only 2m off my seasonal best. On the 3^rd and final day of competition, I competed against the same 9 athletes from the day before in the Shot Putt. I really don't like this event as I give it my all, but my distances aren't to my liking and it hurts; but by doing it, it meant I had 3 events to compete in. I did really well and got 3^rd place after throwing a seasonal best by 1.25m.

I met loads of people and thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with other competitive people and now next years goal is to come away with at least the same or even achieve three silver medals. I also had the pleasure of meeting Roger Black. After asking me how long I had been competing, he was really surprised when I told him how well I had done. In fact he actually said I was "amazing, to achieve 3 medals in my first event like this". I was really chuffed and dead proud of myself. I now know what to expect and look forward to next year's championship.

My message to anyone nervous of getting classified or entering a big event like this is; if you want to attend these types of events go for the medical. At the very most they will have to either review your case or discuss an alternative route; but if you just sit there wondering if you are up to it; you'll never know. It's not as scary as your mind can make it, but there are stacks of people who this is second nature to and they tend to be really helpful for us first timers. Give it a go, one day you'll be the experienced athlete helping out the rookie.

Photo's are of myself with former world record holder in the Javelin Nathan Stephens, Julie Hamzah from the Welsh team, a GB junior track athlete and Sir Roger Black.