UNITED STATES QUAD RUGBY ASSOCIATION

June 2003

Sixteen in USQRA one step closer to 2004 Paralympics

When you have most of the countries top wheelchair rugby athletes gathered in the same place it usually means that you’re either attending tryouts for a National team, or at a major rugby tournament. For a select group of twenty-six USQRA players, the unique opportunity to participate in both recently took place. The timeline was the second week of June, and the location was the world class training facility at the Lakeshore Foundation in Birmingham, Alabama.

Normally having tryouts and a competition scheduled during the same week would not be considered an ideal situation, but due to budget and time constraints, this became a reality for USA’s Wheelchair Rugby program. The way that it came about was US Paralympics, a subsidiary of the US Olympic Committee, had scheduled an event called the North America Cup to be held on June 14th at Lakeshore. The competition was between Canada and the United States, and featured each countries men's and women's Wheelchair Basketball teams, as well as Wheelchair Rugby, a co-ed sport. Everything was planned to kick off US Paralympics "America Series", and to help celebrate the Lakeshore Foundation's recent designation as an Olympic and Paralympic training site by the US Olympic Committee. Since the US had not scheduled its rugby tryouts yet, it made good economic sense to hold them just prior to the start of the North America Cup.     

So, early on the morning of June 9th, the full US squad made its way into the Lakeshore Fieldhouse to begin what would be five long days of grueling work, all conducted under watchful eyes. Things started off with the Lakeshore Mile, eight timed laps on the indoor carpeted track, and transitioned into several hours of skills and endurance testing.  As scores and times were recorded for later review by the selection committee, athletes sought out their stats to compare them against fellow competitors. As morning became afternoon, a second mile was pushed in the opposite direction in return for the promise of a hot lunch and well deserved break. By the afternoon session the first day's jitters seemed to be gone, and everyone was anxious to bang chairs. After a review of full court offensive and defensive strategies, four teams were named and set into motion on the court. With almost nine hours of gym time put in at the days end, only showers and sleep were left to worry about.

Anyone that has ever been in a situation where they're trying to showcase their skills knows the pressure that this can create. Simple mistakes or errors in judgment cause anxiety. Anxiety makes one loose their focus and the next thing that happens is they're mentally out of the action. Days two and three of tryouts created these types of situations as athletes tried to put their best game forward. Each knew that ten of them would be cut on Friday night, and some felt that taking a calculated risk to help them standout was important. With continually rotating lineups and game situations put into play everyone had ample opportunity to show what they had brought. For anyone that felt they were not getting a fair look or had questions, Athlete Representative Dave Ceruti, and USQRA Representative Brad Mikkelsen were on hand all week long to help. Both eased the players minds and offered suggestions to coaches and athletes alike to help assured fair consideration was given to all.  

After three days of 6:30 AM bus rides, Thursday brought a late start and the chance to sleep in. With the arrival of the Canadian and other US teams a day earlier, gym time was reduced to 3 hours and a single court for USA Rugby. After some brief on court reviews the coaches choose to play a full game and give the athletes a chance to have some fun. To help assure that everyone got playing time, mandatory subs were required every four minutes preceded by a timeout. The normal 4 period game was turned into 8 and the athletes really seemed to enjoy the format. As expected, the score was tight in the end and it really provided a great team building experience for everyone. The day concluded with a change of hotels and lots of rest.     

Friday was the final day of tryouts and new ground was being broken. With the Canadian rugby program in town for Saturdays North America Cup, four scrimmage games between the two squads were arranged. Each country had named two teams and each squad would have the chance to play the other. While everyone wanted to win their games, the primary goal for the US was to see how different lineups played together. Hockey style subs and TV timeouts were used from time to time in order to help accommodate the need to see. Rookies went up against rival veterans on both sides of the scorers table to test their skills in battle. Having real game situations unfold on the rugby court allowed the selection committee to view situations that just don't happen at a normal tryout camp. When the final buzzer of the day had sounded the US won 3 of the 4 games, but more importantly had gathered valuable information that would assist them with their final selections.

After a short team meeting to thank the US athletes and staff for their work the selection committee went one way as everyone else headed off to dinner. Waiting to find out who would make the final cut is tough on everyone, and for some finding a place to be by themselves is not uncommon. As the time of posting the final selections neared people began to gather in small groups in the gym. Once word was given that the team of sixteen was named a line began to proceed past the list to see who had made it in. Whether you had made the program or not, displaying true emotions at that moment was impossible in consideration of others.

There is no doubt that the US has the deepest pool of talent in the world and the athletes who attended tryouts are among the best in their class. Congratulations go out to them all, especially the sixteen athletes that now make up US Paralympics Rugby. Twelve of them will have the opportunity to represent the United States at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, Greece. 

A footnote; special recognition must be given to Ed and Trisha Suhr in appreciation of their commitment to this program. Over the last several years they have each dedicated countless hours of time and knowledge to help ensure that USA Wheelchair Rugby was operating at its best. Thank you both for all that you have done!  

• Inaugural North America Cup A Success - click here for story

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