A NURSE from Claines has set her sights on helping the Great Britain wheelchair rugby team win gold at the 2012 Paralympics.

Beverley Everton has been part of the GB wheelchair rugby team’s support staff for over a year, but has now been promoted to a lead role.

Her new position involves working with the elite athletes playing wheelchair rugby at camps and competitions with the ultimate goal of a gold medal at the London Games.

She said: “Following the GB team’s fourth place in Beijing at the Paralympics, expectations are high for a medal in 2012 and UK Sport has ploughed £2million into the sport.

“My role as lead support consists of planning staff for training camps and tournaments and also ensuring the general medical care of the players while at camps or tournaments.

“Wheelchair rugby is played in a league at a variety of weekends. Most people find the sport fascinating as it is a fast, furious game and involves plenty of crashing, banging and people falling from the chairs.

“I work for a large medical company who sponsor the Coloplast Wheelchair Rugby League. The league is made up of teams who compete locally and nationally. Team GB is made up of top players from the Coloplast League. The majority of the players have spinal chord injuries but we also have players with cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy.

“The elite squad is made up of 15 core players and then the development squad is a varying number of approximately 20 players. The team meet for monthly camps and regularly attend both local and international tournaments.”

Wheelchair rugby will be played in 2012 at the Paralympics at the Olympic Basketball Arena, Olympic Park London, from September 4-10.