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St. Paddy's Day Fun Abounds at Theme St. Patrick's Day Wheelchair Tennis Fun Day

Eight players of all levels participated in BCWSA’s second annual wheelchair tennis St.Patrick's Fun Day this Saturday, March 15 at the Delta Town & Country Inn Tennis Courts. The participants played out a doubles tournament and enjoyed pizza and beverages as well as Irish music. 

As you can see, the participants showed that sometimes it's easy being green! You won't want to miss the photos from this colourful event. Click here to see them. 

Check Out the Science World "Speed, Sail and Soar" Event at Science World!

BCWSA is proud to be a part of the “Speed, Sail and Soar” event at Science World for Spring Break on March 22 and 23 from 11am to 5pm.  Come out to play some mini games in our sports wheelchairs, try a track chair on rollers, and meet with athletes and volunteers to get all your questions about wheelchair sports answered. 

 On March 22, Jessica Kruger and Peter Isherwood will be on the main stage at 2:20pm discussing wheelchair rugby.    

BC Wins Vancouver Invitational Wheelchair Rugby Tournament For First Time in The Event’s History

(Richmond, BC) – For the first time in the event’s 15-year history, BC has won the Vancouver Invitational Wheelchair Rugby Tournament. In front of a packed crowd Sunday afternoon at the Richmond Olympic Oval, BC claimed a 56-53 victory over the Ontario Thunder.

“We lost to the Thunder by 15 points in the round-robins, so it’s great to be able to come back and play the kind of wheelchair rugby we’re capable of playing,” said BC Head Coach Adam Frost. “I’m glad we’ve finally broken the 15-year curse and won Vancouver Invitational.”

BC had to rely on both mental and physical toughness to even make it to the gold medal game. After a key player was injured, BC lost 51-34 to Ontario. In the semi-finals, they overcame a three-point deficit thanks to steals from Ian Chan and scored the winning goal with less than a second on the clock.

For his incredible leadership effort, Richmond’s Ian Chan was named tournament MVP.

“Ian had an outstanding tournament. His court sense and his ability to force turnovers is second to none,” said Frost.

Chan was not the only British Columbian honoured with an All Star Award. Duncan Campbell, who invented wheelchair rugby 37 years ago and still plays today, was named Most Clutch.

Other award winners include:

Best Picker: Patrice Simard
Most Heart: Cody Caldwell

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact:

Arley McNeney
Communications Manager
BC Wheelchair Sports Association
Cell: 778-788-9091
Email: arley@bcwheelchairsports.com

Check out the 15th Annual Vancouver Invitational Wheelchair Rugby Tournament

The best wheelchair rugby clubs in North America will compete this weekend at the 15^thAnnual Vancouver Invitational Wheelchair Rugby Tournament at the Richmond Olympic Oval.

Among the athletes competing at this year’s Vancouver Invitational will be:

•  BC athletes Ian Chan (Richmond, BC), Trevor Hirschfield (Parksville, BC) and Travis Murao (Richmond, BC), who won silver at the London 2012 Paralympics.
• Jessica Kruger (Coquitlam, BC), who became one of the world’s first quadriplegic models when she won a contest to become the face of Lise Watier’s Something Sweet perfume.
• Duncan Campbell (Vancouver, BC), who is one of the co-inventors of wheelchair rugby.
• A record number of female athletes. Wheelchair rugby is a co-ed sport and participation of female athletes is increasingly significantly. This year five women, including three in the A Division, will participate.

“The Vancouver Invitational should be a lot of fun for fans,” said Vancouver Invitational Tournament Chair Kevin Bowie. “Our beer garden will be up and running and we’ve got some of the best wheelchair rugby players in the world. It’s a great way to spend a weekend.”

The Vancouver Invitational Wheelchair Rugby Tournament will take place from March 14-16. Entry is by donation and all funds will be used to help BC Wheelchair Sports Association introduce more people with disabilities to wheelchair sports. The Vancouver Invitational is supported by Hosting BC, the Province of BC, ViaSport and Richmond Sport Hosting.

The Vancouver Invitational won’t be the only time that wheelchair rugby comes to the Richmond Oval this year. From June 19-21, the former Olympic venue will host the 2014 Canada Cup International Wheelchair Rugby Tournament, which will welcome 10 of the top teams in the world.

To see schedules and rosters, please visit www.wcrugby.com.

Sports and Day Wheelchairs For Sale

One of our members is selling four sports/day wheelchairs.

For more information, please email arley@bcwheelchairsports.com.

Kelowna Wheelchair Rugby Club and UBCO Kinesiology Department Present a Para-Sport Demo

The Kelowna Wheelchair Rugby Club and the UBCO Kinesiology Department will join forces to showcase several para-sports at a special demo on Thursday March 6th from 1:30 until 4 pm at UBCO (south gym). This event will be a unique interactive opportunity for athletes with a disability, friends, volunteers, students, and practitioners  to expand the knowledge base  within the rehab and sports world in the Okanagan.

All members of the community - whether able-bodied  or disabled - are invited to ask questions about and then try wheelchair rugby. All equipment will be provided, and participation  is totally free.

Wheelchair rugby is a full-contact sport for men and women of all ages. It is a sport for people who have functional impairment in at least 3 limbs, though in smaller communities athletes with paraplegia may be allowed to participate. Athletes train and compete in custom  designed "MadMax-like" wheelchairs and score points  by carrying a ball over a goal line. This Paraplympic
medal sport was made famous by the 2005  documentary "Murderball" and was started in Manitoba in
1977 by Canadians still involved in the sport.

Kelowna KOs take pride in acknowledging sponsors such as Canadian Paralympic Committee, BCWSA, BC Rehab, ViaSport and the Province of British Columbia, Pacific Sport, Own the Podium Program, and local sponsors Hybrid Elevator, Doak Shirreff, School District 23, Boilermakers 359, City of Kelowna, Parkinson Rec Centre, Spinal Cord Injury BC, and our individual sponsors reaching as far as Singapore.

For more information please contact Colleen Bryant at  cobryant@telus.net or 250-808-2955.