We are looking for volunteers! This is an awesome opportunity to get involved in the parasport community. You’ll be able to get right in the action taking donations at the front door, setting up courts, meeting the athletes, or even serving as a table official.

The tournament will be running from March 10th through the 12th . Join us at the Richmond Olympic Oval, only a few blocks from Lansdowne skytrain station. We have eight exciting squads coming out this year featuring high performance athletes from around the world. Getting down here is a cinch, so what are you waiting for?

We are, of course, indebted to our awesome volunteer community. Our volunteers are a wonderful set of people; and most of them return year after year to be part of our network. You’ll meet new people, learn some new things, and maybe even make a friend or two.

Click here to sign up; there are a bunch of different experiences for you to select from. See you soon.

*Table officials are, of course, the real deal. If you’d like to train up to become a volunteer table official, we ask that you attend a training seminar at the Raycam Cooperative Centre on Tuesday, February 28^th from 5:45-8:15pm. Please email Lisa Myers to register.

We are exactly three weeks away from the opening day of the Vancouver Invitational Wheelchair Rugby Tournament! Things have started to heat up, as all clubs have submitted their rosters (with the notable exception of Team Canada’s development squad; did they get maple syrup lodged in their keyboards again? Tsk tsk, peeps.)

Today we’re going to look at some of the American clubs coming. Team USA, as a national entity, has rebounded considerably, boasting a silver medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. Last year, USQRA brought an absolutely stacked lineup playing under the moniker USA Stripes, a composite club of veterans and invitees to their national development squad. Their composite club this year features  Jeff Butler of the Texas Stampede, Joe Jackson, a regular for the Phoenix Heat, and Talbot Kennedy, of the Shepherd Smash. All three men were invited to USQRA’s national selection camp in January (though I can’t yet find who made the cut).

We also saw strong performances by both the Seattle Slam and the Portland Pounders. Keep an eye, in particular, on the Seattle Slam. The Slam play hard and bring a good crowd out with them. They’re the ones in blue & green hoodies cheering loudly from the sidelines, even during the early games.

The Seattle Slam are often favoured to win the Vancouver Invitational. The club will feature Daisuke Ikezaki once again. He’s one of the best high point players in the world; he transitions well in his own end and is practically error-free on his passing game. When he’s not training with the Seattle Slam, he can be found quarterbacking the Japanese national team, who have made gains over the past few years . They’ve improved their Paralympic standing every year since they entered the fray in 2004, and took their first medal (a bronze) in 2016.

See you in three weeks!