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We look back on the 25th anniversary of the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games, which marked the milestone first year that wheelchair rugby was an official part of the Paralympic program. WRA spoke to former Australian Steelers Head Coach Terry Vinyard, and former Steeler turned current Head Coach Brad Dubberley about what the experience meant to them. Above gallery photos: Sport The Library / Paralympics Australia.

In the spring of 2000, as Sydney welcomed the world to its shores, a new force rolled onto the court – wheelchair rugby made its fierce Paralympic Medal debut, and from that moment, the sport, and the Australian Steelers, began forging a legacy.

Eight countries competed with 93 participants in what was the milestone first year that the sport was an official part of the Paralympic program after being held as a demonstration sport during the Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games. The wheelchair rugby games ran from 25 to 29 October 2000, with the gold medal match marking one of the last events before the closing ceremony.

Head Coach of the Australian Steelers during the 2000 Games, Terry Vinyard, shares that there was nothing like it, with electric energy from the opening ceremony continuing beyond the closing of the Games.

“The whole atmosphere was phenomenal, seeing the Australian players at their home games where the sport for the first time was being played for medals... it was great experience for me, and for them it was epic,” he said.

“Your hair stands up on your arms as you come into the stadium last as the host country and you’re heading into a full stadium of people cheering for you.”

In 2000, Brad Dubberley was one of many athletes competing in his first Paralympics games. Today he is the Steelers Head Coach. He looks back at his time on the court representing Australia fondly.

“As a player, it was bloody awesome,” he laughed.

“The crowds were insane. I remember having my parents, my brothers, my relatives, everyone I knew watching us play which was awesome. We felt like celebrities making our way through busy crowds and being escorted by security to get the venue.

“We heard so many stories about how cool people thought wheelchair rugby was, and how they couldn’t get in to see it because it was too busy and popular.”

Steve Porter and Brett Boylan sporting their gold hair, with Bryce Alman’s dye processing. Photo thanks to the Old School Wheelchair Rugby Facebook group.

“There was a hair stylist in the Village where you could go get a haircut. A couple players just went for it and took the ‘going for gold’ idea to the next level with the hair bleach,” Vinyard said.

“After the first dominoes fell, our team manager Kim Ellwood accessed dye kits from the stylist. That made it easier for us all to adorn the look. I eventually got in on it too, and by the finals we had essentially our whole team and staff with gold hair.”

Beyond the village excitement, the team’s spirit shone brightly on the court, and the Australian Steelers beat everyone’s expectations. The team progressed into the semi-finals, and after a stunning win against New Zealand in the semi-finals, the Steelers progressed to the gold medal match where they would take on team USA in the Dome at Sydney Olympic Park.

“I remember before the final game even happened, I had a hit in our team warm up that wasn’t great, we thought that we’d thrown my back out,” Dubberley shared.

“We were working away on my back to just try to get me through the game, it was a bit touch and go there for a minute.”

Dubberley did make it to the court, and what welcomed him and the rest of the team was a completely new experience – with 10,000 screaming sport-lovers waiting for them.

“Communication was so difficult due to noise, I just had to hope that George, Bryce and any other team-mate would turn to see the ball and that we could understand each other,” he said.

“It was the first time that we were forced to use those cues between one another in that way.”

The Steelers’ Paralympic campaign ended with a heart-stopping silver medal, narrowly losing by one try to the USA, 32 to 31. That game, played at a fever pitch, captured the imagination of Australians and proved the Steelers could compete with the world’s best.

“We had some belief within ourselves that we would go well, and I don’t think we expected it to go as well as it did, but we should have won that final,” Dubberley sighs.

“I still struggle to this day to watch that game in its entirety. At the end of the day, as shattering as it was not to win, it was very cool being on the podium.”

Vinyard agreed it was a challenge to overcome the loss.

“The loss was disappointing, it’s almost harder to lose the gold medal match and take home silver than it is to win the bronze medal match, because you’ve come so close,” he shared.

“It was such a tough match, we went into the competition and had caught up to USA, and no one in the world had been close at that time. It really was a Herculean effort.”

Though gold eluded them that day, Sydney 2000 lit a flame that’s burned ever since.

“I went back out in the Dome that a few hours ago had seen 10,000 people cheering, to feel it now virtually empty,” Vinyard continued.

“I could see all the scenes from the game play out before me, and I just took a moment to savour in what we had achieved.

“I was one of the last ones out of the Dome that day, and when I went outside, there was this still family there that knew one of our players. And they came up and hugged me; they spoke to me about how much this experience had impacted him and they thanked me. I’ll always remember it.

“We were on national television, people all over Australia, all over the world saw it. It showcased the sport like never before.”

The years following Sydney saw the Steelers cement their status as a global powerhouse, going on to claim their first Paralympic gold medal at London in 2012.

But Sydney 2000 was about more than medals. It was about momentum. It changed how Australians viewed disability sport — not as an afterthought, but as something to celebrate, invest in and proudly support.

That legacy continues today. Across Australia, new athletes are picking up the game for the first time — some motivated by the stories of the Sydney pioneers, others by the gold medal moments that followed. Wheelchair rugby programs are running in more cities than ever before and participation in Australia is at an all-time high, opening doors for athletes of all abilities to play, connect and belong.

“When the 2000 games went by, we just weren’t set up to have regular competitions or ways to grow the sport. The infrastructure wasn’t there for us,” Vinyard shared.

“Now it's more visible, we have more competitions, and we have a great legacy of a medal-winning team in the Steelers. There’s a huge grassroots movement happening in wheelchair rugby in Australia.”

The 2000 Games and the 25 years of commitment, culture-building and investing in community sport that followed has had a significant impact off the court.

“The impact on everyone's lives is indescribable, not just on the staff and athletes at the time of the 2000 games, but to think some of those kids who were watching us play from the Paralympic school’s program that brought kids in to see our athletes play are now in their mid-30s,” Dubberley said.

“They grew up seeing different sports and representation of disability, and I don’t think we acknowledge enough the impact it had on their lives beyond the Sydney Games. Before the Games, it was very much that people would see you in a wheelchair have the attitude that they would move to the other side of the road or not know how to speak to you assuming everyone with disability is the same. But then it almost changed overnight with how people treated us.”

Vinyard agrees, going on to share that the growth of the sport has impacts even further than the athletes.

“We’re getting score bench officials from our Wheelchair Ruby National League rounds coming in and loving it, and some of them have aspirations to be a part of Brisbane 2032,” he said.

“I went to three Paralympic Games as a coach, and now I am involved with the referees in Australia and seeing the passion coming through. Many of our refs already have international experience, we have two in their 20s coming through that are doing international games and they have aspirations of refereeing during 2032.”

Twenty-five years on, the flame lit in Sydney still burns strong. As Australia looks toward the Brisbane 2032 Paralympic Games, a new generation of Steelers are rolling forward.

They are motivated by the past, determined to write their own chapter, and ready to show the world that Australian wheelchair rugby is as fierce and fearless as ever.

Because while Sydney 2000 lit the spark, it’s the spirit of the Steelers that keeps it burning.

25 years on: How Sydney 2000 lit the spark for the Steelers and a new era of wheelchair rugby