Abderrahim Taghrest wants to inspire the next generation of disabled athletes on the basketball court.

The 20-year-old helped Team England to men's 3x3 wheelchair basketball bronze at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Looking back at the younger version of himself, Taghrest recalls how he never imagined he’d reach the Commonwealth stage and hopes his journey can be a guiding light to aspiring para athletes.

“Being a para athlete is one of the most important parts of my life,” Taghrest said, ahead of International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

“From when I first became disabled, I look at that kid and think he’d be proud of me now. I would never think I’d be able to do this. And then he’d look at when I was watching the Paralympics when I was younger, I always wanted to be like them.

“So being able to compete in the Commonwealth Games, I want to be a role model for young disabled children, that’s how I think about it. That’s my main aim."

Taghrest made his debut for England’s senior wheelchair basketball team at Birmingham 2022, coinciding with the sport's debut in the Commonwealth Games.

Team England's men's wheelchair basketball team topped their group stages in Birmingham, eventually beating Malaysia 21-11 for the bronze medal in front of a roaring crowd and Taghrest remembers the moment with great fondness.


“It was cool, it was a lot of pressure," he said. "Definitely a lot of pressure. I’d never played at that level, I was coming up to that level in the next few years but I didn’t think it would come about so soon.

"I was with one of my best friends Charlie [McIntyre], and we had Lee Manning next to us, who is one of the premier players in the world, so we had good support system, but a lot of pressure. We strived to live up to it."

3x3 wheelchair basketball is one of the 10 sports that has been included in the upcoming Glasgow 2026 programme, alongside it's standing counterpart.

The team qualified for Birmingham as the host nation but will now have to face the European Qualifiers to return to the stage in Glasgow.

However, Taghrest is already dreaming of improving upon his Birmingham bronze.

“As a sport as a whole we are extremely grateful that we are back in the Commonwealths," he said.

"We want to improve on our last performance, we have to go through qualification this time but always at the end of the road we want to win a medal.”

As a child, Taghrest was “proper into football”, as he puts it, but was pulled away from his love of sport due to his injury.

It wasn’t until a year and a half later that his mum forced me to go for a taster session at London Titans and has has been playing wheelchair basketball ever since.

“And I didn’t like it at first,” he said ,”but I kept going back for a month or two and I was like yeah I’m staying in this. And look at where I am here now.”

Having overcome his own setbacks to reach the international podium, Taghrest now dreams of continued growth in his sport. Hoping that a second Commonwealth appearance in Glasgow can propel wheelchair basketball even further into the limelight.

“For me, it’s consistency," he said. "The more wheelchair basketball can stay in these major games, the better. The more funding we receive to help out these younger athletes get more facilities, more chairs, more coaches.

"But my priority is just making sure wheelchair basketball is still in the limelight and still getting the views it deserves.”