Brad Dubberley (born 28 June 1981)[1] is an Australian Paralympic wheelchair rugby Head Coach and former athlete. He won a silver medal as an athlete at the 2000 Sydney Games[1] and was the head coach at the 2008 Beijing Games in the mixed wheelchair rugby event.[2] He is the head coach of the Australian Wheelchair Rugby team known as the Australian Steelers.[3]

Brad Dubberley
2012 Australian Paralympic team portrait of Dubberley
Personal information
Nationality Australia
Born (1981-06-28) 28 June 1981 (age 42)
Kurri Kurri, New South Wales
Sport
Disability class3.5
Medal record
Wheelchair rugby
Paralympic Games- Athlete
Silver medal – second place 2000 Sydney Mixed
Paralympic Games- Coach
Silver medal – second place 2008 Beijing Mixed
Gold medal – first place 2012 London Mixed
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio Mixed
World Wheelchair Rugby Championships - Athlete
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Gothenburg Mixed
World Wheelchair Rugby Championships - Coach
Silver medal – second place 2010 Vancouver Mixed
Gold medal – first place 2014 Odense Mixed
Silver medal – second place 2018 Sydney Mixed
Gold medal – first place 2022 Vejle Mixed

Playing career edit

 
Dubberley with the ball during 2000 Summer Paralympics match

Dubberley was born in the New South Wales town of Kurri Kurri on 28 June 1981.[4] He became a quadriplegic at the age of 12 when he fell down a 50 m cliff while playing with friends in the bush in Victoria.[1] In 1995, at the age of 14, he took up wheelchair rugby as part of the rehabilitation process.[1] His classification level was 3.5.[1] He first represented Australia in 1996 in a test series with New Zealand.[1] At 1998 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships, he was member of the team that came 5th.[1] At the 2000 Sydney Games, he was a member of the team that won the silver medal.[1] At the 2002 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships, he was a member of the team that won the bronze medal.[1] At the 2004 Athens Games, he was a member of the team that came 5th.[1] His last major competition as an athlete was at the 2006 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships, where the team came 6th.[1] During his career as an athlete, he competed in over 70 international competitions.[1]

Coaching career edit

In 1998 he was the Australian Junior Paralympian of the Year.[1] In 2009, he was awarded the Primary Club of Australia's Sir Roden Cutler Award for his services to wheelchair rugby.[5] Dubberley is a frequent visitor to spinal units offering advice and support. His message is "Don't let the chair, stop you from doing anything".[6]

Dubberley retired from competition in 2006 and in November of that year was appointed as head coach of the Australian Wheelchair Rugby team.[1] He coached the team to a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Games[7] and the 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships.[8] He is preparing the team for the 2012 London Games. He coached the Australian national wheelchair rugby team at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, which went through the five-day tournament undefeated and won the gold medal.[9] He was the head coach at the 2016 Rio Paralympics where the team won Gold.[10]

At the 2018 World Championships in Sydney, he was Head Coach of the Australian team that won the silver medal after being defeated by Japan 61–62 in the gold medal game.[11] Dubberley coached the Steelers to win the gold medal at the 2022 IWRF World Championship in Vejle, Denmark, when they defeated the United States . [12]

He currently lives in Point Cook, Victoria.[13]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Brad Dubberley - Wheelchair Rugby" (PDF). Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association Website. Retrieved 23 May 2012.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Athlete Search Results". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 4 June 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  3. ^ "Steelers commence gold medal campaign". Australian Paralympic Committee Website. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  4. ^ Australian Media Guide : 2000 Paralympic Games Sydney. Sydney: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2000.
  5. ^ "The Sir Roden Cutler Award". Primary Club of Australia Website. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  6. ^ "Murderball". Sixty Minutes. 20 October 2005. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  7. ^ Media Guide - Beijing 2008 (PDF). Sydney: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  8. ^ "USA wins World Wheelchair Rugby Championships". International Wheelchair Rugby Federation Website. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  9. ^ "Batt stars as Australia win gold". Official site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 9 September 2012. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  10. ^ "Steelers aim to maintain their reign in Rio". Australian Paralympic Committee News. 25 July 2016. Archived from the original on 29 August 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  11. ^ "Results". IWRF Wheelchair Rugby World Championships website. Archived from the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  12. ^ "Australian Steelers Are World Wheelchair Rugby Champions". Paralympics Australia. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  13. ^ Australian Paralympic Committee Media Guide - London 2012 Paralympic Games. Sydney, New South Wales: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2012. p. 103.

External links edit