Wheelchair rugby
tournament
draws teams from around globe
Athletes in an international
wheelchair rugby
tourney give no quarter at Fort Homer Hesterly
By ORVAL JACKSON
of The Tampa Tribune
As Joe Soares of Tampa and Steve Pate of Spokane,
Wash.,slam into each other, Chad Farrington snatches the
ball out of the air and heads for the goal line. Within
seconds of the opening tip off, the Dukes of St. Lukes
from Spokane have a 1-0 lead over the Tampa Generals. But
just as fast, Soares takes the inbound pass and goes the
distance to tie the score.
That quick series was representative of the hell-bent
determination and action 160 athletes from 16 teams
displayed in the opening round of the Internatonal
Wheelchair Rugby Games at Fort Homer Hesterly Armory
Friday.
The competition is divided into four pools of four
teams each and includes top-seeded Sharp Shadow of San
Diego, the Canadian team that won the silver medal in the
1996 Paralympics in Atlanta, and the German national
team. The rest of the field includes 12 other U.S. teams
and one from Japan.
Tourney director Terry Vinyard, wheelchair sports
coordinator for sponsoring Tampa General Hospital Rehab
Center, said after each team plays each team in its pool,
standings will be posted and teams will advance based on
their ratings. Play is scheduled at the armory from 9
a.m. to-6 p.m. today and at 8 a.m. Sunday. Admission is
free. The championship game is set for 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
We moved the championship up a little because I
understand there is some other kind of game later,"
Vinyard said in a joking reference to the Super Bowl.
"I guarantee you that our final will be closer than
the Super Bowl."
"These guys are really serious. They train three
times a week from October to April," he said.
"This is
one of the world's most prestigious tournaments. We have
the top 10 U.S. teams along with the top Canadian and
German teams." Vinyard said the tournament, the
seventh straight sponsored by the rehabilitation center,
is the largest quad-rugby tournament in the world.
In addition to the players from Canada, Japan, and
Germany, the tournament attracted game officials from
around the nation as well as from Switzerland, Holland,
Germany and Canada.
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