QUAD RUGBY
Wheelchair rugby athletes battle for national title
James Adams (left) competes against Kory Puderbaugh at this year’s U.S. Quad Rugby Association national championship tournament, now underway in Phoenix.
Ernie Chun weaves in and out of defenders with ease, turning on a dime to escape the double team. Scott Hogsett holds it down on the other end, trapping an opponent. Shin Shimakawa snags a no-look pass and glides across the goal line.
The 360Heat are putting on a showcase, their flowing offense punctuated with the clangs of colliding wheelchairs.
It’s the first day of the United States Quad Rugby Association (USQRA) National Championship Tournament in Phoenix, where 16 teams are competing for a title.
Wheelchair rugby was originally called Murderball, and as players from the Shepard Smash, the Portland Pounders and the MedStar NRH Punishers crash straight into each other’s specially designed wheelchairs, it is apparent why.
“While we’re on the court, we’re trying to kill each other for the most part,” Hogsett said with a laugh. Murderball 101 The sport changed names to seem more marketable, but for athletes looking to get in-
volved after an injury, the appeal is clear.
“We were all athletes before we got injured,” Hogsett said. “We’re all quadriplegics, we all suffered pretty major disabilities to our necks to where we have disabilities in all four limbs. It’s the ultimate challenge to try to play this sport as well as to maintain your disability.”
A player and coach, Hogsett founded 360Heat in 1998. He’s competed in three Paralympics. He says he and his teammates choked in both Athens and London. By choked, he means they won bronze. They took home gold in Beijing.
Fiercely competitive, on Thursday, his main objective is to win. But Hogsett and his teammates also see the value in getting their sport more exposure.
“To see the game live really does the game some justice,” Hogsett said. “It’s hard to explain it and paint the picture, but once they come here, a lot of fans get here, and they’re like ‘Oh my gosh, these guys are in wheelchairs playing a sport.’
“By the time they leave, they no longer see the wheelchair. They just see athletes going up and down trying to achieve a goal, which is a national championship.”
Teams compete with four players on the court at a time. There are four eightminute periods with a longer break for halftime. Players must cross the goal line with two of their four wheels with possession to score one point.
Once teams have crossed to the opponent’s side of the court, they have just 40 seconds to score. As a result, games are fast-paced and high-scoring. While it takes its name from rugby, players note that it has traces of basketball, soccer and hockey as well.
The road to repeat
The floor at the Ability360 Sports & Fitness Center in Phoenix reverberates. The clash of metal-on-metal pierces the air.
The slanted wheels are covered, reminiscent of gladiator shields. Sometimes when two players collide head-on, all four wheels come off the ground. Other times, players are flipped on their sides, the clock stopping as staff rush out to get them upright.
“It’s like little car crashes,” Chun said. Collisions are very much a part of the game, but not necessarily the main defensive tactic.
“The game has changed quite a bit – it’s moved more toward finesse,” Hogsett said.
While fast breaks become more common late in 360Heat’s first game against the Shepard Smash, the finesse and strategy is evident from the start.
On the opposite side, James Adams anchors the Smash. Adams draws a double team for most of the game after a few slick goals.
Still, it’s the Heat who roll off the court victorious, winning 54-36.
Despite the double-digit win to open the tournament, the defending champs feel they have something to prove. Last year, they were the team to beat. This year, they check in as the three-seed, behind the University of Arizona Wildcats and the Minnesota Steelheads.
“I like the position we’re in,” Chun said.
“We’re the hunters. I think it relieves some of the pressure, lets some of the guys play a little looser.”
‘The icing on the cake’
If 360Heat were to repeat, some things would be familiar. For one, the location.
Opened in 2011, the Ability360 Sports & Fitness Center hosted the Wheelchair Rugby Championships last year as well.
The site will see two more days packed with competition. Thursday’s round-robin play trickles over into Friday, before teams are re-seeded. Saturday will see two championship games, one for each division.
According to tournament director Katie Ritter, the center is one of just three adaptive facilities of its kind in the country and the only one west of the Mississippi.
Chun knows this. He moved across the country for it.
When Chun knew it was time to move from Kentucky, he crowd-sourced the wheelchair rugby network for suggestions.
“It’s a tight-knit community. Everyone knew I was shopping around for a new team,” he said. “Scott was the type of coach I liked, and when he told me about the facility, that was the icing on the cake.”
The building was designed for people with all levels of abilities, but with people with disabilities in mind. Floors change colors and textures as you move room to room. A fitness center upstairs has a wheelchair scale. Ramps and elevators are not an afterthought, but the norm.
At the center are the courts where 360Heat practices three times a week. The space gives them more than just a spot to go through drills. It gives athletes an empathetic team that helps them with challenges away from the game.