Quad Rugby/Story - It was 'murder' for wheelchair athletes at Jupiter event

Annual Knock and Roll tournament turns into Demolition derby during Jupiter event.

Justin Stark of the Tampa Generals, left, covers the ball up while Patrice Simard of the South Florida Rattles bangs into him during the sixth annual Knock and Roll Wheelchair Rugby Tournament last weekend at the West Jupiter Recreation Center

By MIKE ENGLISH
mike.english@scripps.com
January 18, 2006

After a weekend of "murder ball" the Lakeshore Demolition rolled away with the winners crown at the sixth annual Knock and Roll Wheelchair Rugby tournament held over the weekend at the West Recreation Center.

The tournament drew six teams including the Alabama-based Demolition, the Denver Harlequins, the Great Lakes Storm from Michigan and three Florida teams — the South Florida Rattlers (who finished third), the Tampa Generals and the second-place Hoveround Gunners from Sarasota.

"You're looking at a lot of national team players from around the world," said Rattlers coach Marco Dispaltro. "There are three U.S. national players on the Denver team."

There haven't been any Palm Beach County players on the Rattlers squad for three years, said Dispaltro. There are a couple of players on the roster from Broward and Miami-Dade counties but most of them are snowbirds from Canada, like Dispaltro.

"Last year, we had players on the Rattlers from Sweden and Finland," he said. "Our on-going project is to find some local players and, hopefully, in the future to have two teams in the South Florida area."

Quad rugby — or "murder ball" — is not for everybody, Dispaltro warned; there is a lot of contact between the players, but if anyone — male or female — is interested, they can contact the club, through their Web site, www.quadrugby.com.

Although the Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Department doesn't sponsor the Rattlers, they have hosted the Knock and Roll Tournament since its inception, said Co-Tournament Director Renata Watson.

The tournament drew two less teams this year because there were two other tournaments — on the West Coast and in the North East, she said.

Palm Beach County also hosts the annual Mosquito Open wheelchair tennis tournament at Carlin Park in November, although the 2005 event had to be cancelled because of Hurricane Wilma, Watson said.

The county wants to promote more wheelchair sports programs, Watson added. "We do have trouble in Palm Beach County finding people who are interested in participating in different sports.

"We're hoping to start a wheelchair basketball program but we're looking for people interested in participating."

"If the wheelchair athletes want to come up with something else on their own, we will help start it," Watson said.

By MIKE ENGLISH mike.english@scripps.com January 18, 2006

By MIKE ENGLISH
mike.english@scripps.com
January 18, 2006