Wheelchair Rugby Australia (WRA) has added serious marketing firepower to its leadership team with the appointment of Anathea Ruys, CEO of UM Australia, to its Board of Directors.
Ruys is one of three new directors alongside Woolworths Group’s Eve Ireland and Paralympics Australia executive Kate McLoughlin, announced this week following what has been described as a highly competitive recruitment process.
For Ruys, whose career has been built on connecting brands with communities and driving purpose-led partnerships, the opportunity to jump on board a cultural moment waiting to happen was impossible to turn down.
“From my first interaction with Wheelchair Rugby Australia, it was clear wheelchair rugby is a sport that was both critically important to the players, their families and the broader community, as well as being an enthralling and engaging spectacle,” Ruys said. “I am excited to be able to support WRA to achieve their goal of introducing Australia to their new favourite sport – they just don’t know it yet.”
Also joining the Board is Eve Ireland, general manager of Next Gen Marketing at Woolworths Group. With deep expertise in digital innovation, content strategy and e-commerce, Ireland has overseen marketing transformation across some of Australia’s biggest consumer brands.
“I’m honoured to join the Board of Wheelchair Rugby Australia and support a sport that combines fierce athleticism with an incredibly strong sense of community,” Ireland said. “I look forward to helping the organisation grow its impact and bring more Australians into the world of wheelchair rugby.”
Rounding out the trio is Kate McLoughlin, Head of Games and International Engagement at Paralympics Australia and a five-time Chef de Mission for the Australian Paralympic Team. With more than 25 years in high-performance sport, McLoughlin brings both credibility and experience in global event delivery.
“I’ve been a passionate supporter of wheelchair rugby for many years, and I’m honoured to join the Board to help continue to grow the game, support our athletes and staff, and share this incredible sport with the world,” McLoughlin said.
The new Directors bring a wealth of expertise and fresh perspectives to WRA’s leadership team as the organisation continues its mission to expand the sport’s reach and strengthen athlete pathways across the country.
This is being achieved by delivering key strategic priorities, including hosting major events such as the 2025 Santos Wheelchair Rugby World Challenge in Adelaide, launching a dedicated juniors division, increasing female participation at all levels of the game and supporting the next generation of athletes, coaches and officials.
The appointments also mark a milestone for gender diversity, with WRA’s Board now exceeding 50% female representation.
“We’re thrilled to welcome such distinguished and forward-thinking leaders to WRA’s Board,” WRA Board Chair, Steve Loader said. “I have no doubt that their combined expertise will strengthen our efforts to elevate wheelchair rugby, both nationally and on the world stage.”
These appointments align directly with the message WRA CEO Chris Nay delivered earlier this year: that para-sport is a vast cultural bubble just waiting to burst.
Speaking at the Cairns Crocodiles session Moving the Needle, Nay said he’s out to prove that para-sport isn’t just deserving of a seat at the table, it’s commercially viable, media-ready, and offers a brand opportunity like no other. He laid out a blueprint for how WRA has set its sights on using innovation, media and purpose-driven partnerships to do what no para-sport in Australia has done before: go mainstream.
“No disability sport or para sport has ever even considered becoming mainstream. Our vision, essentially, is to become the first para sport to be mainstreamed into the Australian community. We want to become a household name. We don’t need people to care about our pathways or our little domestic competitions when the Steelers play; it’s crucial that people care, and we represent them well. And I think that’s a really strong message that we’re trying to send”.
The addition of this marketing firepower suggests that the organisation is firmly on the right path to achieve its goal to shift from niche to mainstream.
For Nay, the goal remains clear: para-sport is not a sponsorship afterthought, but a platform for brands to drive meaningful impact. As he told the industry in Cairns: “We don’t just want to be good for a para-sport. We want to be iconic. Boomers, Matildas… Steelers. That’s the vision. And we’re already on our way.”
