Show Utah Rugby R Team Has Roots Root At Kevin Curtis I Contributing Writer With the rise of handi handi- oriented capped-oriented sports such as wheelchair basketball and wheelchair hockey it was only a matter of time before wheelchair rugby rolled onto the scene Quad rugby was introduced introduced intro intro- into the United States in in 1981 by a student aide at the University of North Dakota Originally called due to the aggressive nature of the game quad rugby was designed to offer those who are physically impaired an alternative to wheelchair basketball The sport is open to anybody anybody any any- body with a combination of upper and lower extremity impairment Those eligible to play are then given a classification classification classification clas clas- number ranging from based on the severity of their injuries A player with a 05 classification tion has the greatest impairment impairment impairment impair impair- ment while a 35 player has the least impairment Each team may have up to 80 combined combine points on the court at one time In 1988 the United States Quad R Rugby Association was formed and currently has 50 teams in the association including Utah United Un ted the only team in Utah Utah United also happens happens happens hap hap- pens to meet and practice at several of campus campus- es Utah United currently has hasten hasten hasten ten members and has been around since the mid when the team was formed under the name Utah Extreme Members of he team have sustained injuries ranging from diving accidents accidents accidents acci acci- dents at Lake Powell to a abad abad abad bad reaction to an Tim was a professional professional professional snowboarder until he broke his neck on a half pipe in Park City in 2000 joined the team because of his competitive nature and loves going head to head with other quad rugby teams around the nation We are in fact the worst team in the league said after the team lost each of their five games in in a a recent Denver tournament Some of the teams are pretty pretty pretty pret pret- ty gnarly though though it gets pretty competitive Team captain Matt Bambrough has been on the team for over six years and says there are many advantages advantages advantages to playing the sport Its a great exercise you get to mingle with the other guys you get to do a bit of traveling together Jared Kehl would play quad rugby on the street before he caught word of an organized team I Its t s cool were we're all in a similar situation said Kehl Its good exercise As interest around the country continues to grow for sports such as quad rugby Utah United hopes to more interest from the community The team has been featured on local morning shows such as Fox Good Day Utah and This Morning and recently received a great sponsorship from the National Ability Center in Park City This is a great sponsorship sponsorship sponsorship sponsor sponsor- ship said Bambrough These are not the ordinary every day wheelchairs that we use when we play Each wheelchair runs around to The sponsorship sponsorship sponsorship spon spon- has covered the cost for new wheelchairs which ends up running around to so this will definitely help Utah United practices from a.m.- a.m. 11 1130 30 am a.m. each Saturday at the South City Campus in room The team can also be found on Tuesday nights from at the Kearns Recreation Center located at S S. S W W. Utah United invites all eligible eligible eligible eli eli- gible participants to join The advantages are huge says Bambrough You get the sportsmanship the biggest thing is the camaraderie between the team You can relate to the guys and you get that com petition More information can be found on the official at http or on Utah United's homepage at http |