Wheelchair Rugby

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Wheelchair Rugby

As one of the only full-contact disability sports, it is little wonder wheelchair rugby, aka 'murderball' was one of the biggest hits of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

An Overview of Wheelchair Rugby

The sport is open to both men an women, and is one of the only games which allows them to compete on the same team.

The game is played on a basketball court, with boundary lines, a centre line, centre circle and two key areas. Two cones at each end of the court mark out a goal area, and a goal is scored when a player carries a ball across the line.

Games are played in four eight-minute quarters and each team has 40 seconds to score a goal before the ball gets turned over. Chair-to-chair contact is allowed, but person-to-chair and person-to-person contact is not.

Teams are made up of up to 12 players, with four on court at any one time. Each person has a vital role to play, which is ensured by using a classification system based on muscle function and strength. Classes range from 0.5 to 3.5, and the team of four players must total eight points or less during play.

Facts

  • The game was invented in 1977 in Canada by a group of tetraplegic wheelchair basketball players who were tired of losing out on court time to their more functional team mates.

Find Wheelchair Rugby Clubs/Groups Near You

Use the search below to find local organisations near you.

National Governing Bodies

Featherstone Rovers Foundation

Featherstone Rovers Foundation

Provider of services across the Wakefield District & further afield for projects that fit within our 5 areas of delivery: Education, Physical Activity, Social Inclusion, Health & Heritage

Wheelchair Rugby

Yorkshire Lions Wheelchair Rugby Team

Yorkshire Lions is a new Wheelchair Rugby Club established October 2013. We play only full contact (Paralympic) Wheelchair Rugby and not Tag Rugby. This means that players need to have an upper limb impairment such as those who are tetraplegic or cerebra

American Football

In Play Sports Ltd

In-Play Sports Ltd provides professional sports filming and performance analysis services to athletes, teams and sporting organisations throughout the UK. We work closely with both our grassroots and professional clients to help them consistently reach th

Cheerleading

The Bradford Bulls Foundation

Harnessing the benefits of sport, we empower, educate, motivate and inspire to make a positive difference for local people. We provide positive activities and experiences for people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds with particular focus on sport, p

James Thomas

Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby National Development Director

07827 975 765