Murder Ball is a game that’s one of the only contact sports for people with divers-abilities. But they couldn’t market or get sponsorship’s for murder ball.
So they ended up changing the name to wheelchair rugby. It’s meant as a quad sport, because they are more limited than paras are. Like them, I was always limited in what I could do.
And because of my symptom, dystonia, I could never shoot, or pass, but I have worked on my skills. So in rugby, my job is to hold people, and I do this with my defensive chair.
When I was in Middle School, I tried to play wheelchair basketball. But whenever they would pass me the ball, they would hit me in the face. So, when I was roommates with my friend Jordan, he wanted me to find a sport that I can do during my free time.
So we went to the Parkinson Rec Centre, and we found power soccer, and sledge hockey. I really enjoyed Power Soccer. I played it for 3 years, and it evolved into more of a tame sport than I would have liked. So I left. Because I felt like I needed a sport where I was powering my own chair. So I started to wheel and focus on muscle growth and pushing against the grain.
At that point in my life, I was going climbing once a week. So I wanted to add an exercise to push myself, and be as strong as I could be. So when I heard that there was a rugby team coming to Kelowna, I jumped at the chance, and I have been playing ever since.
I have made many connections, and have also joined some social groups through rugby. I have been playing on the team, for several years, and I don’t think I will ever stop.
Written by Paul Stokes
