Team Japan stunned wheelchair rugby fans across the country when they upset the #1 ranked Team Canada at the 2016 Canada Cup. Their victory was the first sign of a changing tide for the Canadian squad, who, by the conclusion of the tournament, had relinquished their International Wheelchair Rugby Federation standing and found themselves as sudden underdogs going into the Rio Paralympics.
Japan never looked back. They played well enough in the Paralympics to go home with their first Paralympic medal in the sport; a bronze. Not bad for a country that first entered Paralympic competition in 2004.
The Vancouver Invitational will mark Japan’s first return to Canada, and they’ll be looking to make the most of it. They’ve hired former Team USA & Team Canada head coach Kevin Orr to guide the ship. He’s known for his fiery disposition on the court, and was a good offseason pickup for the club.
He yells. A lot.
Despite not playing with Daisuke Ikezaki (he’s with the Seattle Slam, his training club) Team Japan is still coming in strong with guys like Yukinobu Ike, Masayuki Haga, and Shin Nakazato. They’ve also added some new faces, like low-point player Kae Kurahashi. Japan tends to run a fast game, forcing opponents into wide coverage (at the risk of interceptions.) It’ll be interesting to see how Orr utilizes the strengths of Japan’s offence.
We’re only two days away! Can’t wait to see you there.
Team Ontario will be an arrangement of familiar faces. They have five players that competed at the Rio Paralympics. Five. With all that sweet Canadian paralympian talent on the roster, they’ll be looking to rank well. Garrett Hickling and player/coach Dave Willsie both have five Paralympics under their belts and will not be prone to many mistakes. While they’re no longer the speedy transitional pair that Canada relied on the 2000s, their accolades speak volumes for their commitment to the game. Don’t expect them to let any team off easy.
Also in their ranks is veteran player Mike Whitehead. Now 41 years old, he shows little signs of slowing down. This 3.0 player plays aggressively and moves quickly. He’s often a favoured choice for photographers; his bulking frame is often responsible for the hard hits fans like to see. Travis Murao, Paralympian and a former Team BC player, will also be representing Team Ontario this year. A fan favourite in British Columbia, he was well-regarded for his Youtube series with fellow Paralympian Trevor Hirschfield. Click here to watch a very old segment with Team BC coach Adam Frost.
Keep an eye when Team Ontario faces off against Team Japan on Saturday @ 1:30. Japan’s Head Coach Kevin Orr will be facing off for the first time largely against the team he led to the Paralympics in 2008, 2012, and 2016. It might get weird.
Branden Troutman will be marking his return to the Vancouver Invitational this year. He’s a 3.5 from Edmonton, Alberta with a history in wheelchair basketball. Last year, he was invited to the wheelchair rugby prospects camp with fellow wheelchair basketball alum Joel Ewert. Ewert is also a 3.5 and will be playing for Team BC. Look for some intensity when Canada’s development squad plays BC Saturday at noon. Also, keep your eyes out for Kristen Cameron. She made major headlinesa couple of years ago when she declared her intent to make the National squad and head to the Paralympics ASAP. Britt Meyer and Faisal Burale have deserved nods on this roster as well; their home province Saskatchewan is missing from this year’s tournament.
You may have noticed that not all of these players are not what most would consider to be “development.” If Jared Funk isn’t fully developed, I don’t know when he’ll ever be ready.
Jared Funk, you beast.
He broke on the National team in 2002 and boasts 2 silver and 1 bronze Paralympic medals as a former member of the National squad. He’ll be playing alongside Paralympian Miranda Biletski and longtime veteran Cory Harrower.
Keep an eye on this (mostly) young group. I think they might surprise some teams.
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 28th 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 monikerUSAStripes, 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.
We’re back! The Vancouver Invitational Wheelchair Rugby Tournament is returning to the Vancouver Oval in March. It’s been a long break since the end of the 2016 Paralympics, and we’re excited to get back into the mix.
We’re already set to see the Seattle Slam, the Portland Pounders, Team BC, two clubs from Japan, and an Ontario club make an appearance. Registrations aren’t closed yet, so stay tuned, as a bunch of clubs are expected to sign on shortly.
If you haven’t seen wheelchair rugby yet, you can always go catch a game at the Richmond Oval. The Vancouver Wheelchair Rugby League hosts public games from time to time; they’re an awesome watch to watch some of the best athletes in the world for free.
Got any questions about wheelchair rugby? Hit me up in the comments!
Just a quick reminder that it’s still not too late to pop in for the last day at the Vancouver Invitational Wheelchair Rugby Tournament! Today we ave our medal matches – you can find the schedule here and can follow along with Court 1 and Court 2 online. Cheers!
As you have probably guessed, we’ll have some Canadian teams too. With only a few days left before we start seeing some awesome wheelchair rugby, I’ve been handed a number of Canadian roster changes and even a trade! Below is the list of substitutions.
Alberta Roughnecks
-Removed Zak “Canada’s Posterboy for Wheelchair Rugby” Madell.
– Removed Rob Macissac
– Removed Ken Hicks
– Removed Allan Chartrand
Team BC
– Added Travis Murao
Ontario (Split into two teams last week) Burlington Fighting Squirrels
– Removed Jason Crone
– Removed Joe Boudreau London Annihalators
– Picked up Ian Crowe from Burlington for conditional future considerations (If London goes the distance, Dave Willsie needs to give Cody Caldwell his charizard.)
The Alberta Roughnecks will likely be playing a longer bench without Zak Madell. He’s not only a scoring threat for the Roughnecks, but he chews up a lot of minutes, often playing entire games. Keep an eye on relative newcomer Branden Troutman. He’s a 3.5 who, like Zak Madell, has a background in wheelchair basketball and often cites him as an influence.
Team BC has a long, long roster, and it’ll be interesting to see how they manage their lineup in front of the hometown crowd. The newest player to crack the squad is young Joel Ewert. He (also) has a wheelchair basketball background and has been playing wheelchair sports since he was 5 years old, often training in his hometown Prince George with Canada Winter Games teammate Avril Harris. Team BC also boasts 3 national team members in Travis Murao, Trevor Hirschfield, and “Mean Mean” Byron Green. Trevor Hirschfield missed last year’s Vancouver Invitational due to injury; and his absence sorely felt. He’s one of the strongest defensive players in the game, and outperforms his class when throwing and receiving. Who knows. We may even get another Trev and Trav Wheelchair Rugby Talk out of the tournament. It’s been too long.
The recently named Burlington Fighting Squirrels need a logo, because who doesn’t want a shirt with a fighting squirrel?
I know I do.
The Squirrels also have 3 national team veterans, including Mike Whitehead. Don’t sell him short on speed, but he can use his large frame to trouble would-be passers. He also hits notoriously hard, and is a common cause of trouble for opposing teams. The only weak point on this lineup; with only five players, they’ll be stacking up a lot of minutes over the course of the 3-day tournament.
The Annihalators may not score as highly on my list of wanted t-shirts, but that’s a terrible metric for this team anyhow. Veterans like Dave Willsie and Garrett Hickling have been playing well before the Murderball days, and they’ve got Olympic-hopeful Kristen Cameron along with them. She’s one of a handful of female players in the game, and she’s been working her tail off to find a way onto the deep Canadian roster for the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Look for a strong showing here – she’s turning as many heads as she can with only a few months to spare.
Last, but definitely not least, we have the Québec team. When you have Fabien Lavoie, Patrice Simard, and Yanick Racicot on your team, you’re in good hands. With Fabien being the only high-pointer (3.0) on the team, expect him to play entire games.
Looking forward to seeing you all there! Two days! Eek!
Since missing the 2014 Canada Cup (also held at the Richmond Olympic Oval and presented by BC Wheelchair Sports and the Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association), the USA national team has fallen off the podium. Fans were stunned, when at the 2012 Canada Cup, USQRA (United States Quad Rugby Association) were handed their first sanctioned defeat in nearly a decade. (You can watch that game here, btw. It’s one of my favourites.) Japan became the second nation, ever, to beat a then-impenetrable USA squad. Times have changed. The USA briefly slipped all the way to 3rd place internationally after a disappointing 2014 Worlds, and has been held to 2nd place since April 2015. With Rio right around the corner, we’ve got 3 American clubs topped to the brim with experienced Paralympians. Let’s meet some clubs.
The Seattle Slam have been staples at the Vancouver Invitational, and they have a cheering squad willing to cross the border to fire the club up. New additions to the squad Michael Lykins (2.0) and Brian Moore (2.0) will be ones to watch out for. Daisuke Ikezaki, of the Japanese national team, will be playing for Team Seattle for the duration of the tournament. He’s one of the fastest and most complete players in the game, and was instrumental in helping Team Japan defeat Great Britain at the BT World Wheelchair Rugby Challenge last fall for a 4th place tournament finish. Ike trains with the Slam, and you can expect him to get a good ribbing when Japan and Seattle compete. The Slam will also be looking forward to an early match against the Portland Pounders; they’ll be playing them in the USQRA Pacific Sectionals from March 18th – 20th on home soil.
And then there’s the Portland Pounders. Led by longterm national team member (and two-time Paralympic medalist) Seth McBride, these guys are also regulars at the Vancouver Invitational. They narrowly lost to the Slam during the inaugural Cascadia Cup over the weekend, a tournament in which Will Groulx slid back into action with the Pounders for the first time in (at least) a year. Max Woodbury will be another familiar face; he’s been playing with the Pounders for 19 years.
The Stripes round out the American clubs coming to the tournament, and ho-boy. I think every other club in the tournament is going to have their hands full playing against this stacked lineup. All seven members are part of the USA national wheelchair rugby team, and they’re reasonably well rounded too, with enough low & midpoint players to get substitutions throughout the game. This hodgepodge of veterans has everything to lose here.
Edit – The story has been updated on two points;
(1) The USA Eagles has renamed themselves USA Stripes to avoid a conflict with the able-bodied club with the same name, and
(2) to properly reflect USQRA’s IWRF ranking, because I goofed.
Are you excited? Get excited. The Vancouver Invitational is set to feature two national clubs this year, as both Team Germany and Team Japan will be joining us at the 2016 Vancouver Invitational.
Team Japan has made a huge push this year after a four point upset at the IWRF Asia-Oceania tournament moved them into 3rd place internationally. The tournament was held in Chiba, Japan; you can watch that game on Youtube. It was the first time Japan had ever won the tournament, and you can hear the appreciative crowd get a bit crazy near the end. To make things easier for all of us, there will only be one “Ike” playing for Japan at the Vancouver Invitational, as Daisuke Ikezaki will be playing for the Seattle Slam. Guys like Yukinobu Ike and Shin Nakazato will be on hand to pick up the slack, as there’s no shortage of experienced and dangerous mid-class players on Team Japan.
Germany may be looking to get some games under their belts as their local Bernd Best Tournament was unfortunately cancelled for the year. Germany is sitting in 9th place in the world, and could use a strong showing at the Vancouver Invitational. They’re looking to perform well at the IWRF 2016 Paralympic Qualifier in April in order to snag one of the two remaining spots that would send them off to the Rio Paralympics.
Entrance to the Vancouver Invitational will (as always) be by donation and is within walking distance of Lansdowne Station (if that’s your jam.) You can find more information on getting to the tournament here, you can find more British Columbia wheelchair rugby news here, and we are still accepting applications for volunteers. Come join us! You’ll get to meet me. Or maybe even head referee Kevin Bowie. You just never know.
