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IWRF PRESS RELEASE |
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May 7, 2009
SECOND TEST FOR
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS BEGIN AT OLYMPIC OVAL
RICHMOND, BC, CAN
– The second test event in preparation for the 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby
Championships (2010 WWRC) takes place at the Richmond Olympic Oval May
8-10 as the 2009 Coloplast Canadian Wheelchair Rugby
Championships gets underway. Canada’s top wheelchair rugby
athletes will battle it out for provincial supremacy, and then put their
National Team “hats” on to begin training for the 2010 WWRC which runs
September 17 - 26, 2010 at the Oval.
New to
the National Team this year is head coach, Kevin Orr, who coached the USA
team to a silver medal at the 2002 World Championships and bronze at the
2004 Athens Paralympics. “Canada was within one goal of the gold medal
game in Beijing,” said Orr. “There is a lot of experience here. There are
athletes who have attended three Paralympic Games and one that has four
under his belt. It’s neat to see some of the up and coming talent mixed
with the veterans.”
The
coaching staff will use the training camp to institute new systems that
the team will follow over the next year-and-a-half. Tournaments in Great
Britain this August and Argentina in October will test those systems on
their journey to the 2010 WWRC.
“We have
fantastic team speed and we’re very physical,” continued Orr. “We have a
very good future ahead of us.”
During
the Coloplast Canadian Wheelchair Rugby
Championships all teams will play in one, single round robin format with
the first through fourth place teams from the round robin playing for the
Division 1 National Championship (the Campbell Cup) and the fifth through
eighth place teams competing for the Division 2 National Title (the
Zbieranowski Cup). The Campbell Cup is named after the sport’s co-founder,
Duncan Campbell, now a resident of BC, and a player/ coach on the BC – C
team at the Championships.
Wheelchair rugby
is a sport for athletes with a disability in at least three limbs, with
mechanics and rules borrowed from team handball, ice hockey and
basketball. Wheelchair rugby is the only full contact sport played by
athletes with a disability. Called “Murderball” by the five Canadians
from Winnipeg, MB, who developed it, the sport first captured the
fascination of the public when it was the subject of the 2005 film by the
same name.
Wheelchair rugby
was designated as a Canadian Heritage Sport in 2008, one of only six
sports within the Canadian sport system with that designation, and the
only sport for athletes with a disability to receive this distinction.
Wheelchair rugby gained full medal status at the Sydney Paralympic Games
and was a fan favourite from that point on to the Beijing Games in 2008.
BC will
play host to the world’s 12 top ranked wheelchair rugby teams as over 400
athletes, coaches, officials, delegates and volunteers converge on the
Richmond Olympic Oval in 2010.
It will be the
first International event at the Oval following the 2010 Olympics.
The
Coloplast Canadian Wheelchair Rugby
Championships is hosted by BC Wheelchair Sports Association (BCWSA), a
not-for-profit organization devoted to providing opportunities for
athletes with physical disabilities. Founded in 1971, it works to provide
access to quality programs for athletes with disabilities. BCWSA partners
with other Provincial Wheelchair Sports Societies across Canada in
promoting wheelchair sport and community awareness.
Complimentary tickets for the Canadian Championships are available on game
days at the Richmond Olympic Oval. Visit
www.bcwheelchairsports.com for more information and Championships
results.
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