All posts by Chris Cruthers

Round 4 – BC vs. Newbies | Ontario vs. Quebec

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BC vs Newbies

BC fans were treated to a great display of murderball during this match. On one side, the Canadian Newbies: a team made up of national team members star Zak Madell, several other national team squad members, and Duncan Campbell (severely pushing the limits of the name ‘Newbie’).

Though BC was heavily favoured, the Newbies weren’t willing to go down without a fight. Every time that BC gained a 3 or 4 point lead, the Newbies would force some turnovers and come storming back. Halfway through the fourth quarter, the game was tied, and the lead see-sawed back and forth. It all came down to the final possession. the Newbies were down 47-46 and needed to score in the last 30 seconds. The game seemed destined to head into overtime, but Ian Chan showed why he’s one of the smartest players in the game by picking off an errant ball at halfcourt. BC wins 47-46.

Ontario vs. Quebec

In overtime, Ontario won the tipoff and quickly went 1 goal ahead. Fabien Lavoie, however, kept Quebec in the game by stealing the ball from Dave Willsie to tie the game again. Ontario, however, quickly responded, so Fabien once again forced the issue by drawing a foul from Willsie and again tying the game. With about 50 seconds, the score was tied 61-61.

Luckily for Ontario, wily veterans Garrett Hickling and David Willsie had a few tricks left up their sleeve. They ran the clock down to the 10 second mark, then called for a time-out, which awarded them an extra 10 seconds on the clock. With less than a second left, they scored to win 62-61.

Round 3: BC-B vs Seattle, Alberta vs. Portland

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The two games in round 3 were nearly identical to one another. Both had nearly identical scores and followed a similar script, making us look forward to when BC-B and Alberta get to take each other on.

BC-B vs. Seattle

For the first half, this was a game of changing leads. Both teams forced turnovers, but neither could mount a lead. At the half, Seattle had built a 24-22 lead. BC-B, however, was not easily discouraged and came out refocused for the second half at a time when Seattle seemed to run out of stamina. BC-B slowly built a lead, and was up by 4 at the beginning of the fourth. Though Seattle mounted a brief comeback by creating 3 turnovers in a row, BC-B was able to rally and claim the 49-42 win.

Alberta vs. Portland

Alberta vs. Portland played out much like the BC-B vs. Seattle game. Lots of forced turnovers and see-sawing leads that kept fans on the edge of their seats. In the third, however, Alberta turned on the jets and never looked back. A series of turnovers demoralized Portland, though they showed great class playing out until the end. Alberta won 49-40.

Friday – Round 2

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Court 1 – BC vs. Quebec
BC has done a great job in this offense-minded game. Led by Ian Chan and Travis Murao, they’ve managed to hold Fabien Lavoie (and his beard) back by a single point at the half. BC leads 28-27.
Court 2 – Ontario vs. CDN Newbies
On Court 2, the Canadian Newbies, led ironically by one of the engineers of wheelchair rugby, Duncan Campbell, is currently upsetting Ontario by using Zak Madell liberally. BC leads 29-27 at the half.
Updates to come at the end of the game.

UPDATE

BC managed to maintain their thin lead against Quebec, narrowly winning against the strong Quebec squad. Cory Harrower and Fabien Lavoie were both in full force during the game, playing the majority of the final half. BC wins, 52-51.
Ontario ultimately ran away with the Court 2 game, taking out the CDN Newbies by pinning Zak Madell to the sidelines as often as possible. It was great to watch Madell and Campbell paired together. Ontario wins, 56-47.

Come on out to the Richmond Oval! Plenty of games over the next few days.

Here We Go!

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We have two games underway; on Court 1, we have BC-B (developmental) vs. last year’s winner, The Portland Pounders. The Portland Pounders were dominant during last year’s Vancouver Invitational, featuring a roster that included paralympians Seth McBride and Will Groulx. Now missing these key players, they are trailing BC’s developmental club at the half.
On the other court, we have The Seattle Slam vs. Alberta’s B Club. Seattle features the largest roster of the tournament, bringing 16 athletes to the Richmond Oval. With a large fan base in tow, they’ve jut begun their third quarter, tied 23-23 with 5:07 left on the clock.
Final results will be updated at the end of the game, and we hope to see everyone out to the Richmond Oval. 

UPDATE

Portland’s Jake Merriman ultimately couldn’t stop BC-B’s offensive power. BC-B managed a 52-42 win in the game, owing much of the score to their fourth quarter.
The Seattle – Alberta Developmental game set the tone for the tournament. With 55 seconds left in the fourth quarter, they caught Alberta trying to play the clock and managed to stop them at the goal line. With a late goal, they managed to force an overtime, eventually defeating Alberta B. Final score; 45-42.

Hope to see everyone at a game soon.

FB event and further details can be found here. 
Game schedule can be had here. 

BCWSA Gears Up for the 15th Annual Vancouver Invitational

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It’s that time of year again…the great sport of Murderball comes once again to the Richmond Oval for the 15th Annual Vancouver Invitational Wheelchair Rugby tournament. Come out to watch the hard hits, the amazing plays, and the skill of wheelchair rugby players from across North America. It all happens from March 14-16, 2014.

Rosters and a schedule will be released soon. If you are interested in volunteering, sponsoring the event, or donating a prize to the silent auction, please contact Kevin Bowie at kevin@bcwheelchairsports.com or 604-333-3520.

BC and Portland to Go for the Gold at Vancouver Invitational Wheelchair Rugby Tournament

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The stage is set for a gold medal showdown between the Portland Pounders and the BC A team. The Portland Pounders are undefeated heading into the final, having bested BC by a significant margin on Saturday night. BC A went 3-1. The Ontario Thunder and the Ontario Lightning will face off for the bronze medal, having finished in third and fourth place in Division 1.

Sunday’s schedule will be:

9:30 am: Seattle vs. Sask | Portland B vs BC B
11:15 am: Quebec vs. Alberta | Ontario Thunder vs. Ontario Lightning
1 pm: Portland vs BC A

In honour of St. Patrick’s Day, the beer garden will be open at noon and will be serving Granville Island beer for $5.

Win A Nando’s Prize Package!

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How do you make a sport like wheelchair rugby even hotter? Add Nando’s peri-peri flame-grilled chicken! Our great sponsor Nando’s at 8231 Ackroyd in Richmond, has generously donated their delicious chicken to warm up our athletes, staff and volunteers at the 14th Annual Vancouver Invitational Wheelchair Rugby Tournament. Now, they’ve offered two awesome prize packages of Nando’s chicken goodness for two lucky fans.

Two lucky winners will receive:

  • One Nando’s Chicken Prize Package (3 Nando’s sauces and a variety pack with a voucher. Prize pack worth $47.00)
  • Two tickets for the Vancouver Invitational Wheelchair Rugby Tournament, which will be held at the Richmond Olympic Oval from March 15-17.

To be entered into a draw to win, answer the skill-testing question below in a comment. For an additional entry, retweet the phrase “I just entered to win @nandosperiperi prize pack via @BCWSA details here: http://ow.ly/j04CH”

Skill-testing question: Which Nando’s location is closest to the Richmond Olympic Oval? Get a hint here.

Good luck!

What has 48 wheels and crashes up to 32 times an hour?

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If you live in Richmond, you may have seen some of our posters. You may also have seen our web posters on Facebook. Want to know if you guessed right? The answers are below.

Q: What has 48 wheels and crashes up to 32 times an hour?

A: A wheelchair rugby game! Wheelchair rugby is a fast-paced, full-contact sport for people with disabilities. Each wheelchair has 6 wheels (2 big wheels, 2 front wheels and 2 anti-tip wheels). There are four athletes per team, which makes 8 athletes on the floor of a wheelchair rugby game at any one time. Since wheelchair rugby allows chair contact, it’s not uncommon to see athletes crashing into one another dozens of times per game. Sometimes wheelchairs are even knocked over. To see some of the heavy hits from last year’s Vancouver Invitational, click here. Better yet, come out in person to witness all the action for yourself at the Richmond Olympic Oval from March 15-17 by checking out our schedule!

Q: From March 15-17, what Richmond Intersection will have the most crashes?

A: River Road and Hollybridge Way! That’s the address of the Richmond Olympic Oval, which will play host to the Vancouver Invitational Wheelchair Rugby Tournament. Because wheelchair rugby is a contact sport, there are bound to be plenty of crashes!

Q: What sport is played in a gym, but the athletes’ feet never touch the ground?

Wheelchair rugby! Athletes are strapped into specially designed wheelchair rugby chairs and so their feet never touch the ground.