Quad Rugby/Story - Inaugural DIII “Vegas Vengeance” Tournament

UNITED STATES QUAD RUGBY ASSOCIATION

January 2008

Inaugural City of Las Vegas DIII “Vegas Vengeance” Tournament
By Robert Murray

Las Vegas, NV – The City of Las Vegas Adaptive Recreation Division hosted the Inaugural “Vegas Vengeance” Quad Rugby Tournament on January 18–20, 2008 at the Chuck Minker Sports Complex located at 275 N. Mojave Rd. in Las Vegas, NV. This inaugural tournament left the folks in the stands on the edge of their seats. The thrills and spills were awesome and the excitement and enthusiasm of the crowd was never ending. All of this was provided by the Arizona Outcasts, St. Louis Rugby Rams, Las Vegas Sin City Skulls, Utah Scorpions, Pittsburgh Steelwheelers and the Reno Bighorns.

The rivalry between the Utah Scorpions and Sin City Skulls went to a higher level as the first ever (of several to come) “Cow Bell” game was held. This match was played between the whistles and each team played their hearts out and left everything they had on the court, but the outcome left the Skulls clanging the cowbell. This is sure to be a lasting rivalry between the two.

We also found the battle of the Bone. The Reno Bighorns and the Sin City Skulls have battled over this bone for the past four years. Each team brought their game and battled it out on the court and in the bone yard. Vegas came out the victor and are proud to hold on to it for another year, and can’t wait to face up against the Bighorns again.

This tournament also found the Arizona Outcast bring it as if on a mission. Arizona managed to get to Sunday at 4-0 along with the St. Louis Rugby Rams. The 9am match paired these two teams against each other in an outstanding display of smash and crash. The excitement of the crowd only added to the excitement found on the court. In the end, the Arizona Outcasts rose to the top beating the Rugby Rams 55-41 solidifying their 5-0 1st place spot and the out right winner of this great inaugural event.

These were great matches by great teams, but to be honest, every game could have made the highlight real. Especially the match that left three of the Scorpions in the box at the same time when they played St. Louis during the 2:30pm game on Saturday. This was a great weekend of smash and crash rugby.

Congratulations to all of the teams who competed and a special thanks to our Officials: Marsha Bailey, Cora Jones, April McIntyre and Tom DesChamps. We’d also like to thank our future Officials who participated in the City of Las Vegas Adaptive Recreation Division’s 2nd Officials Clinic this year and held in conjunction with the tournament: Billy Willhite, Danny Hinkle and Jeremiah Curtis. We hope to see all of these great teams next year for this annual event.

1st Place – Arizona Outcasts (5-0)
2nd Place – St. Louis Rugby Rams (4-1)
3rd Place – Las Vegas Sin City Skulls (3-2)
4th Place – Utah Scorpions (2-3)
5th Place – Pittsburgh Steelwheelers (1-4)
6th Place – Reno Bighorns (0-5)

This was the third tournament that has been sponsored by the City of Las Vegas Adaptive Recreation Division’s Wheelchair Sports Unit. We are truly excited to have the opportunity in facilitating a year round program for a sport that has done so much for so many. We look forward to the future and would like to wish everyone the best of luck in the post season.

For more information on this event or future tournaments, please contact Robert Murray at (702) 229-4903 or email to rmurray@lasvegasnevada.gov.

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