Wheelchair Rugby

Photo from Channel 4 Paralympics Show

Fast, Full-on, bone shattering excitement.

No wonder it was originally called Murderball.

Wheelchair Rugby has grown in popularity since its invention in Canada during in 1977. Currently played in over 26 countries (and growing!) it’s the only full contact wheelchair sport in the world. Originally, it was created by a group of Quadriplegic athletes who were looking for an alternative to Wheelchair Basketball.

Mark Zupan in documentary "Murderball"

Oddly enough, my first knowledge of the sport was not through watching the Paralympics, but via a reality tattoo documentary series. One of the U.S players, Mark Zupan, was getting inked whilst talking about a recent film about the sport he was in titled 'Murderball'.

The U.S are currently ranked Number 1 in the world. They have won two gold medals and a bronze since the wheelchair rugby was introduced to the Paralympics in 1996 Atlanta as a demonstration sport.



Great Britain are Ranked 5^th but have come in 4^th for the last 2 Paralympic Games. Are we in for a chance of a medal this year? Lets take a look at the team:

Competing this year at London2012 will be Ross Morrison (2.5), Steve Brown (2.0), David Anthony(2.5), Andy Barrow (2.0),  Mike Keer (1.5), Mandip Sehmi (2.5), Jonny Coggan (0.5), Aaron Phipps (3.5), Kylie Grimes (0.5), Bulbul Hussain (1.0) and Myles Pearson (1.0)

Team GB - Source www.gbwr.org.uk

Wheelchair Rugby is a mixed event. Kylie Grimes has only been playing for Team GB since July 2011, and feels perfectly comfortable being the only female athlete in the squad, “It’s Fast, aggressive and highly competitive. Being the only female on the team make this even more exciting.”


How its played:

• Wheelchair Rugby is played by quadriplegic athletes.
• The game is split into 4 lots of 8 minute quarters.
• The object is to carry the ball over the other team’s goal line.
• Classifications of Players are between 0.5 and 3.5 which is based on the Athletes functional ability.
• There are 4 players in each team on the field at one time. There can only be a maximum of 8 points per team, totalling the athletes’ classification numbers.
• Players have to Dribble or Pass ball in less than 10 seconds. A Team cannot remain in opposing teams area for more than 10 seconds without the ball changing hands or without scoring.

Short Video explaining the rules: VIDEO LINK FOR WHEELCHAIR RUGBY

Find out more about our team on the Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby Site: www.gbwr.org.uk

-----------------------------------------------------
Please feel free to tweet and share!
https://www.facebook.com/AbilityNet
https://twitter.com/AbilityNet