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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

American Football

Gravesend Dynamite Wheelchair Rugby League

We are an inclusive sports club for all: males, females, youths, children, adults, families, disabled and able bodied all participating together in sports chairs - all equipment is provided.
Hidden disabilities and physical disabilities or no disabilitie

UK Sport

UK Sport

UK Sport provides strategic investment to enable Great Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic sports and athletes to achieve their full medal winning potential.

Wheelchair Rugby

Canterbury "Hellfire" Wheelchair Rugby Club

The only club in Kent playing the Olympic version of a full contact sport.
Hellfire play in Diversion 2 of the nation league and are coached by Steve Brown the Captain of GB in London 2012