Quad Rugby/Story - High Performance Program Announced

UNITED STATES QUAD RUGBY ASSOCIATION

Updated June 30, 2001

USQRA Announces High Performance Training Program

The United States Quad Rugby Association (USQRA) is pleased to announce the launch of its High Performance Training Program for athletes and staff members who are interested in competing at the elite international level. The new program, which has been in the works since shortly after the 2000 Paralympics, will focus on the long-term development of athletes and staff members in an effort to better prepare for the USA's future in international wheelchair rugby competition

The new training program will be headed up by a High Performance Manager, Head Coach and Team Leader, all who will serve through the 2004 Paralympics in Greece. The USQRA recently named Kevin Orr of the Lakeshore Demolition as Head Coach, John Bishop from the South Florida Rattlers as Team Leader and Wendy Gumbert from the Roosevelt Rolling Thunder as High Performance Manager. Bishop, who served as Team Leader in 1999 and 2000 says, "Wendy, Kevin and I look forward to working with all of the staff in setting goals that will ultimately lead to the teams success".

The High Performance Training Program will be very ambitious for everyone who is involved. It will kick off this fall when 50 to 60 athletes attend tryouts at the USOC Training Facility in Colorado Springs on September 27-30th. Twenty to twenty-four athletes will be selected from that group, and then will be expected to remain with the program through 2004. Athletes for the 2002 World Championship team and 2004 Paralympic team will be chosen from within this program. Shortly after tryouts are completed, a series of regularly scheduled training camps will begin to prepare for World Championships in May of 2002. Plans are also in the works to participate in at least one international competition prior to Worlds.

Ed Suhr, President of the USQRA stated, "This program will be aggressive and is something that our association requires if we expect to remain competitive in this sport". "No longer can we rely solely on the depth of our membership to win medals; we need to develop new and upcoming athletes on a full-time basis so that they will be ready to lead us in future competitions". The program will have a revolving door policy of sorts so that if an athlete outside of the group is excelling in their play they could be invited to join in. At the same time, if someone within the program is not meeting their expectations they could be dropped out. This same policy will also apply to staff members.

With a program this large, staffing will be crucial in order to best utilize training opportunities. "There will be two people for each of the staff positions, and in some cases three or four," says Coach Orr. "We are going to develop coaches, managers, trainers and other staff members right along with our athletes". The program will utilize experienced people, but also allows for those with less background at the upper level to participate too. In some cases, a coach, trainer or manager from outside of the program could be invited to attend a training camp to gain knowledge that they can take back to their club team. "Long-term development of staff and athletes alike will be crucial if we expect to be successful with this undertaking," said Bishop.

Recently the USQRA's Regional Assistant Commissioners have been contacting head coaches of all teams in the league to get their recommendations on players who should be considered for the new program. Once this process is completed invitations to attend tryouts will be extended to those athletes that are best qualified for the program. Notification should come sometime before mid July for those who are invited. Those that have expressed an interest in staff positions will be notified of their status within this same time frame.

If you have questions or need more information about the USQRA's High Performance Training Program please contact John Bishop at (561) 964-1712, or Kevin Orr at (205) 253-4004.

Hit Counter

How to Contact us | Quad Rugby Central Index