Quad Rugby/Story - USQRA Rugby Festival

UNITED STATES QUAD RUGBY ASSOCIATION

December 2002

USA Rugby Festival a Success
by TBWS Staff Writer

One by one they trickled into the baggage claim of the Birmingham Airport. One hunkered over with food poisoning, two more shedding their parkas for the “balmy” 45 degree Alabama temperatures, and two more dawning their parkas for the same “freezing” temps. Florida, Minnesota, California, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Tennessee, Oregon, and the roll call went on for the some 30 participants in the 2002 USA Wheelchair Rugby Festival. The participants were almost evenly split between current members of the USQRA’s High Performance Training Program and individuals who had been invited to participate in the festivities.

Hosted by the Lakeshore Foundation and its state of the art training facility, the event got off to a start Friday morning with standard skills testing. Whether it was sprinting, passing, or agility, the clock became king as each participant grunted their way to their best possible time. Then came the dreaded Lakeshore mile. If you have ever been to the Healthsouth Fieldhouse you might be familiar with the lovely carpeted track that surrounds the three courts. At first glance the carpet was a tightly knitted thread that might prove a bit slower than the hardwood, but certainly not an insurmountable obstacle. But for those pushing it on the 7^th lap of 8 that same tightly knit carpet had been transformed into that wonderfully thick and padded Burber carpet you find in your Aunt Mimi’s house.

After a healthy lunch and overview of offensive and defensive strategies it was back on the court for some more involved drilling. Finally in the 7^th hour of the day the whistle came to do some real banging as teams were divided up. By 7:30 fatigue had thoroughly set in and the hammer was laid down marking the end of the first 12 hours of play.

Saturday saw more of the same intensive offensive and defensive drilling. But by the afternoon all participants got a dose of 4-time National Champions, the Lakeshore Demolition. Kirkland, Chunn, Lujano, and Crouch led the way as the often preached maxim of “once you get beat, retreat” was shown to perfection. The informal scrimmage left the Demolition on top and the participants in the festival understanding what it would truly take to get to the next level of competition.

By Sunday morning, and 24 hours of court-time already under their belts the festival participants strapped up one more time for an intra-squad tournament. Team “Think Pink” (see Kevin Orr for more details) emerged as the quick favorite showing speed and timely chair positioning. However, by the final game it was Team Pippy Longstocking floating to the top of the barrel as coach Sam Gloor refused to allow his boys to be phased by Pink’s play.

After the announcement of the US Development team for the Demolition Derby in early February new friends and teammates exchanged phone numbers and emails. With their bags now packed those who trickled into the airport on Thursday as individuals were now departing as a unified team, some destined to one day be part of USA Paralympic Rugby.

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