As a wheelchair user, Nick Coombs admits he has been treated “a bit gently” throughout his life.

But as someone who is “competitive as hell”, he has found his perfect hobby in wheelchair rugby.

Nick, who lives in Poole, decided to set up a Dorset team in March last year after finding his local wheelchair basketball team not quite competitive enough.

“I said to my mate ‘should we set up a wheelchair rugby club?’, and he said ‘go on then’. I came home to (my wife and carer) Sue and said about it and she said ‘okay’.

“We phoned up Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby (GBWR), the national governing body, and said we were interested, and the bloke just said ‘okay’. It really was as simple as that.”

Nick and Sue joined forces with The Junction at Broadstone, who were keen to attract more disabled sports to the centre, to run a series of trial sessions, hosted by GBWR.

“We were told by the governing body we would be lucky if we had three or four people after the fourth trial session,” said Nick, 50, “but we had more than that after the first one. We had about 14.”

The club, which has been named Dorset Destroyers, is now so popular it has a waiting list.

“At our very first taster session, GBWR came down with a coach,” said Nick, who works part time fixing bikes and is now the club’s chairman and mechanic.

“We thought he was going to teach us for the four taster sessions, but he was so impressed he offered his services to come down, so we’ve got an ex-team GB player as a coach.

“He was in the equivalent of the world cup for wheelchair rugby, he’s fantastic.”

The team, which meets every Sunday morning, is now focusing on learning the quite-involved rules of the game, and fundraising for the special equipment needed to play.

Each wheelchair costs £2,600 for a basic model, and the team needs 25 in total for games – which are played four aside – and for training.

In wheelchair rugby, each player must be physically disabled and a volleyball is passed both backwards and forwards among the team.

“We use a volleyball because some of the players, if they haven’t got any hands, it’s easier to hold it against your chest,” explained Nick.

“It’s for more severely disabled, that’s the rules of the club. Wheelchair basketball, anyone can play, but the disabled players don’t get as much chance to play because they’re not as fast. That’s why wheelchair rugby was invented.

“You’re allowed to knock each other out of the wheelchair, that’s positively encouraged, but only with the wheelchair, not physically. The wheelchairs get smacked to bits.”

Nick uses a wheelchair following numerous operations on his knees which resulted in both his kneecaps being removed.

He has spent much of his life in and out of hospital, but says playing wheelchair rugby enables him to forget about his disability.

“It’s just nice to be not treated as disabled people, but as sports people. So many of our players have had a bit of a gentle life – a lot of them haven’t because they’re ex-services – but they’ve been caught by this bug.

“We are all driven forward by this vision to play and be classed as sports people rather than disabled. There’s an awful lot of passion for the game.”

As well as the team members themselves, who are aged between 16 and 55, the Dorset Destroyers have built up a firm fan following, who are keen fundraisers for the club.

“There’s a social side as well,” explained Sue, 47, who is the club secretary, fundraiser and is also training to become a referee.

“We meet on Sunday mornings and when we finish we go and have a drink and a chat. We are planning a barbecue in the summer, and we want to go and see some games in London. It’s a big family.”

Local rugby club Oakmeadians are huge supporters of the Dorset Destroyers, and other clubs, including Saracens, have been down to Broadstone to have a go at the sport.

“They’ve been knocked about like nobody’s business,” laughed Nick.

“We are now aiming for people to get into team GB and Invictus Games and things like that. But the biggest thing is that we are all equal – whether you’re able-bodied and want to support us, or you want to play, they’re all family.

“This game is infectious, it does get into your blood.”

  • Dorset Destroyers meet every Sunday morning at The Junction, Broadstone, at 10.30am. To find out more visit thedorsetdestroyers.weebly.com or facebook.com/DorsetDestroyers, email nickcoombs65@gmail.com or call club secretary Sue Coombs on 07747 586006.