We’re at the principality stadium speaking to one of the most important grassroots sporting heroes that many might not have heard of. Stephen Jones has been at the very top of Welsh wheelchair rugby league for almost a decade, and as part of national lottery celebration, he’s been honoured all around the country for his involvement in the sport.
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00:00It's vital we recognise people like Steve, so it's brilliant that he has been recognised.
00:07And he's doing it, I guess, for everyone else that does what Steve does in all these other
00:11sports.
00:12Well, as you know, I was named one of the seven game changers for sports with the National
00:18Lottery's 30th birthday.
00:20Still trying to work out why I was chosen, but as you can see behind us, it's the final
00:25installation of the poem by Rob Montgomery, and it's a great poem to read when you read
00:31it in its entirety.
00:33But so far they've floated it in Stirling, it's on a floor in Wembley, it's in a boxing
00:39ring in Northern Ireland, and finally it's outside the Principality.
00:43It's important to recognise the efforts of people like Stephen up and down the country,
00:48and Brian Davis from Sports Wales says that without Lottery funding, they wouldn't be
00:51able to do the incredible work they do.
00:54Yeah, the Lottery has been such an important part of the development of sport in Wales.
00:59It's great for us, Sport Wales, that one of the iconic venues that has received Lottery
01:05support is featuring one of our grassroots champions, like Steve here, and what he does
01:12for Wheelchair Rugby League and Rugby League in general, and especially in North Wales.
01:16So it's a fusion of a few things here.
01:19An iconic elite venue, together with grassroots involvement and the difference Lottery funding
01:25can make to sport and communities in Wales.
01:28If it wasn't for the likes of the Lottery, Sports Wales and all the other organisations,
01:33we couldn't do what we do.
01:35There is a need out there for disability sports, not necessarily at the Paralympic and elite
01:41levels, but at grassroots, and that's what we try and do.
01:45We're at a venue that is regarded as an elite venue, shows to the public, really, that there
01:54is a connectivity between all the grassroots stuff that happens and elite sport.