UNITED STATES QUAD RUGBY ASSOCIATION

ii Dawn of a New (Improved?) Season  written by Bill Renje

As the new millennium approaches and the world prepares for a fresh era to be written into history, the world of wheelchair rugby anxiously anticipates a new age. For just as civilization has been rapidly transformed over the last 1,000 years, the USQRA has been a microcosm of that growth in wheelchair sports. The game has grown from the 'cave man' era of rugby from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, to a high profile game played out on a world stage.

In just ten short years, the game has gone from one played in everyday chairs, on a largely recreational basis, to a game where many of its athletes play in state-of-the-art equipment for worldwide acclaim. A sport where many players compete for sponsored teams, and compete in a game where player movement rivals, even surpasses what we see in professional sports.

When the calendar turns, and the rugby season gets into full swing, the old guard will try to recapture the crown from the new guard. 'Old virtues' in the game, such as internal player development, or to use a professional sports metaphor, small-market teams, will try to compete with the 'new wave' of big-market, overnight sensations that have the resources to build their teams through the recruitment of high profile players. When the 1999-2000 USQRA season begins, the new will supplant the old, and the game, for better or worse depending on your perspective, will never be the same.

The new defending champions, the Lakeshore Demolition are again the head of the class going into this season. Like last year, the run for the title will be an exclusive race between the Demolition, and former champions Sharp Shadow. Lakeshore and Shadow met for every major tournament title last season, with the younger Demolition ending the older champions bid for four in a row in the National Championship game. This season should be no different, as the two programs have no equals in experience, speed, and power, not to mention depth.

Going into this season, the Demolition will face a new kind of pressure, being the hunted, instead of the hunter. Human nature being what it is, few championship teams stay as hungry the second time around the bend. Once they've ascended the mountain, and dethroned the enemy, another challenge becomes necessary to motivate the troops. Head coach Kevin Orr is looking forward to being the hunted, and believes his squad will train even harder to stay on top.

"We haven't even touched what other strong programs have accomplished," Orr said. "And I think that will keep these guys hungry."

The core of the Demolition will stay intact. With the terrible 2.0s Cliff Chunn and Bryan Kirkland surrounded by .5 Eddie Crouch, 3.0 Wayne Romero, and 3.5 Bart Troxell. The two-year growth of Troxell culminated with valuable minutes of the bench in the championship game, giving Lakeshore a potent defensive line-up what helped wear down Shadow.

As for Shadow, one can never underestimate the heart of a champion. Shadow returns their veteran-laden team, with the notable exception of head coach Reggie Richner, who retired after Nationals. Shadow will come back with a renewed sense of desire, trying to recapture the crowning jewel that was in their possession for three years. According to class 2.0, and team captain Dan McCauley, everyone on the team is healthy and ready to rumble, and genuinely hungry to restart their dynasty.

"Lakeshore is a tough team," McCauley said. "They aren't going to give the title away. We want the title back. And win or lose, we are committed 100%."

Shadow will have to offset the loss of Richner, who is among the top coaches in the world. Upon his departure, he takes with him a calming effect in tough times, and a take no prisoners attitude.

" We will miss Reggie," McCauley continued, "But we try to treat each season as a new beginning and improve from there."

So when the smell of burning rubber and the sound of crushed steel subsides after this seasons nationals, who will be crowned champion in the first season of the new millennium. Sentimental choice is the battle tested Shadow squad. But a new era of rugby will be ushered in with a new dynasty, as Lakeshore will repeat in another epic clash between the two big bullies on the block.

With Lakeshore and Shadow, a cut above the rest, third place may be seen this year as a national title of sorts. So how will the rest of the eight-team field shape up at Division I Nationals? Who will win the inaugural Division II title, for the ninth through sixteen seeded teams after sectionals? And what about that new two-tier system anyhow? The rundown is as follows:

A second-year team, the Texas Stampede, had a less than quiet off-season, as owner/general manager/head coach James T. Gumbert, set out to improve on last season's seventh place finish. To compliment last years' lone returning star, Geremy Tinker, Gumbert recruited a frenzy of big name players, including class 3 Mark Zupan, and 1.0 Norm Lyduch. As this article goes to press, Gumbert was in negotiations with the respective agents of 3.5 Steve Pate, and .5 Neil Gustafson. If signed, Pate and Gustafson will give the Stampede a blue-chip recruiting class not seen in the annuals of the USQRA. And that's not including the very real possibility of 3.5 Brad Updegrove surfacing with the team.

Even with all the big names, Gumbert knows teams don't win on paper. Rather, they win on the court. For this reason he is cautiously optimistic about his team's chances.
"We haven't played a game, so we don't know what any of our weaknesses are," Gumbert said. "But after our first game, we'll have an idea of how far we have to go. Our first goal is to qualify for (Division I) Nationals. And second, being in the (title) game. I think that could be a realistic goal for anyone at Nationals this year."

Texas may struggle early on to find continuity and chemistry. But the Stampede should peak at the right time, and finish a distant third behind Lakeshore and Shadow.

Texas will beat the Phoenix Heat in the third-fourth place match-up. The Heat came into their own last year, as class 3 Mike Gilliland arrived as one of the top players in the country. The addition of 2.0, Team USA member, Chad Farrington enabled Phoenix to shock people all year long, culminating in a huge victory over the Tampa Generals to secure fifth place. The Heat will not sneak up on anyone this year, but that won't be necessary. Another year of experience to go along with the possible addition of 3.5 Emeison Calle, late of South Florida, will help the Heat, if signed, improve on last year's finish. Calle, however, could cause more harm than good. He has an enormous amount of talent, but has demonstrated a me-first attitude in the past. Calle should grow as a player, and mature as a person with another season of experience in the USQRA.

A talented, but somewhat underachieving team in the past, the Casa Colina Buccaneers, finally put it all together at Nationals last year. The then seventh-seeded Bucs, in the biggest upset in Nationals history, knocked off the third seed from Tampa. The core group, led by rising 3.5 superstar Gerardo Aldalpe, returns as the Bucs look to be much improved, and finish the season in fifth, which would prove to be its peak since 1996.

Buccaneer veteran, and class 1.5, Bob Martinson thinks the momentum from last year's Nationals should carryover and give the team confidence going into this season.

"We feel we have yet to realize our full potential," Martinson said. "(Aldalpe) was looking real good at the end of last season, and looks even better this summer. I feel this team has a lot of (continuity) right now that will support our top line-ups."

An aged, and once-proud dynasty, the Tampa Generals, will go after one last run at glory. After being ranked no lower than third for seven straight seasons, the Generals finished last season ranked sixth. With little depth, and no help coming from abroad for the first time in a long time, Tampa faces a tough fight to try to regain its place with the elite programs. They will go as far as its famed turtle line of 3.5 Joe Soares, 2.0 Dave Gould, 1.5 Bill Renje, and 1.0 Dave Ceruti can take them, which will once again be no higher than sixth. Coach Terry Vinyard knows this season is much different in terms of expectations.

"We've always had such great expectations put on ourselves," Vinyard said. "But it will be pretty tough if we don't (add any depth). We've consistently been competitive and will be again."

Rounding out the top-eight will be Team All-Night (Seattle) and the TIRR Hurricanes. Both these teams battled in the third-fourth-place game at last year's Nationals. The 'Canes over came a huge, early deficit to nip All-Night in an epic battle. This year both teams should find themselves in position to do battle again. The stakes, however, will be a little lower. All-Night will be hurt by the defections of Pate and Gustafson, but will still pack a punch if Canadian superstar Garret Hickling (3.5) returns to the squad.

The 'Canes meanwhile will be back to basics with a return to their original line-up of Dave Bynum (3.0), Alan Bailey (2.0), Steve Kearley (1.5), and Tim Deason (1.0). Kiwi Curtis Palmer is not returning to the states, while the team will really be hurt by the loss of Updegrove, who moved to Dallas for employment in the off-season.

The 1999-2000 season also marks the inaugural year for the new Division II format. Instead of just a 12-team Nationals format, the league will send the top eight to D-I Nationals. Meanwhile the next eight, teams seeded 9-16 after sectionals, will compete for a D-II title. The continued trend of the nation's better players migrating to more established, better-funded programs, usually located in warm climates, has hurt the expansion of the league. However, the new format gives the second, and even third tier teams, with no shot at a title, the opportunity to reach a credible goal. Also for the first time, four more teams will have the opportunity to advance beyond sectionals, giving teams the incentive to take the season more serious.

The Chicago Bears' Paul Levassor, whose team will likely compete for the D-II crown, agrees that the new system will be good for the league.

"With the recent acceleration of growth in the strength of the top 4-6 teams, there is a need for the rest of the league to have a championship to pursue," he said. "The results of the two championships will also allow for the following season's invitational tournaments to bring in teams more closely matched."

Along with the Bears, teams like the San Diego Bushwackers, California Quake, as well as veteran programs such as the Boston Pitbulls, New York Strykers, and the Minnesota Ice should be in the running for the D-II title.

And who knows, there may be another dark horse. A team nobody talks about at the start of the season, which will challenge at the D-II or even D-I level. It seems like every year a team surfaces from literally nowhere. Anybody remember Tennessee, in its first Nationals, finishing third in 1993?

So who will be this year's Arizona from 1999, or even Lakeshore, that's right Lakeshore, an over-looked squad who came out of the hills of Alabama in 1996 with the eleventh-seed, only to finish sixth. Who is that team? Stay tuned……

10/1/99

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