Friday – Round 2

Leave a comment
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!

Leave a comment
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

Leave a comment
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

Leave a comment
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!

6 Comments
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?

Leave a comment
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.

Volunteer for the Vancouver Invitational

Leave a comment

Volunteers are still needed for the Vancouver Invitational Wheelchair Rugby Tournament. If you want a front-row seat for the hottest wheelchair sport ticket in town (with the bonus of giving back to the community!), then sign up to be a volunteer. For your trouble, we’ll give you meals during your shift and a great T-shirt.

No experience is necessary and we can use people with a wide variety of skills. Here are the areas we’re currently recruiting for:

Food Services
Table Officials
Information Table
Driving
Others
Sound like fun? Sign up by filling of our registration form here.

Register Your Team for the Vancouver Invitational

Leave a comment

Vancouver Invitational is now accepting registration from interested club teams. Whether you’re a B team just starting out, or an A team at the top of your game, submit your registration now to take advantage of one of the most exciting wheelchair rugby tournaments in North America. The tournament will be held at the Richmond Olympic Oval from March 15 – 17.

To download a registration form and learn more information about the tournament, click here.

Got questions? Email kevin@bcwheelchairsports.com.