“This gave him the chance to take part in the sport he loved.”
A mum from Co Derry has spoken about the importance of an annual powerchair football tournament in memory of her son.
Marc Bigger was just 19-years-old when he passed away from the muscle-wasting condition, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, in January 2016. A former pupil of St Pius X College, the Magheralfelt teenager then began studying games development at Ulster University.
In 2010, Marc was one of the first players in Northern Ireland to get involved in powerchair football, playing for the Trailblazers. Speaking to Belfast Live, his mum Marina Lupari said the sport was a “game changer.”
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“Marc loved football and Arsenal, and being introduced to powerchair football changed his world,” mum Marina explaiend
“For kids with disabilities, this gave him the chance to take part in the sport he loved. It opened up Marc’s world to people with the same disability he had, it opened him up to a world that talked about ability as opposed to disability.
“It changed the environment for him, he was competing on an equal level. It takes their lives to a whole different level being able to be involved.
“On that pitch, there’s no prisoners. You’re talking about real competitve sport, there’s no such thing as friendship when they get onto that pitch. They need that in their lives too, they don’t need to feel like they’re being wrapped in cotton wool all the time.”
Powerchair footballers will be heading to Newforge Sports Complex in Belfast this Saturday and Sunday for the annual Marc Bigger Memorial Cup, with around 50 players from teams across the UK competing.
The sport is a fast-paced version of soccer adapted for electric wheelchair users, and sees two teams of four players play the sport with an oversized, 13 inch ball.
As for what it means to have the tournament in memory of her son, Marina said the community supported him, and continues to support their family almost ten years on from his passing. Each year at the tournament, they make sure each person involved gets a trophy – something she hopes Marc would be proud of.
She said: “For me as Marc’s mummy the support I had from the community has been great, it’s not just about the players on the pitch, it’s about the support we all get and I continue to get ten years later.
“It’s all about ability, the focus is on positivity – but equally it’s an opportunity to remember Marc. One of the conversations he had with me – he never talked about dying, he would talk about not living to be old.
“He said ‘mummy when it happens, will I just become a name on a stone and nobody will talk about me?’ So for me, this ticks all the boxes. It’s celebrating Marc’s life and what powered football meant to him.
“Marc was very clever, he was exceptional. He asked the questions everybody would think about, but nobody would say. He said ‘mummy, why is it the only people who get something in a tournament the people who win? Everybody else did their best, so why is that?’ In Marc’s memory, everybody gets trophies, I even try to include the brothers and sisters who are there to watch.”
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