Hi my name is Freya and I’m a wheelchair basketball player from Rayleigh. Before becoming disabled in 2010 I played rugby and football at county level and had trials with the Arsenal Ladies football team.

I then had to find a new sport and came across Wheelchair Basketball. After beginning to play competitively in 2011 things progressed very quickly from there and I have competed at 3 U25 Europeans for Great Britain winning 2 Silvers and a Gold. I have been travelling and competing with the Great Britain team for the last 3-4 years and I was up for selection for a spot in the Rio 2016 team however had to pull out due to personal circumstances.

When I was at school, P.E wasn’t very accessible for me and I spent 3 terms playing table tennis as it was one of the only things we could think of that was inclusive with the non-disabled students. Since then I have been involved with the Panathlon foundation and helped campaign with the Muscular Dystrophy campaign to make disability sport more accessible and well known. Recently I was one of 12 people from around the world picked to attend the Micheal Johnson Performance Centre in Dallas to join his program of young leaders, providing support and training for the young people in the program.

Sport is important because it has always been a part of my life, when I was non-disabled and now while I am disabled. I think it’s incredibly important in terms of recovery and socially for disabled people to get involved in sport more. I campaigned at parliament to try to engage the NHS to promote disability sport from the minute of diagnosis or prognosis with patients to ensure disabled people don’t think that this is the end and that there are many positives to take out of the situation.

Without sport I don’t know what I would be doing today, it enabled me to go to University and compete for my country. Before sport I was Freya in the wheelchair, when I play basketball, I’m just Freya.