NEW Players!

The Calgary Inferno is recruiting new players for the 2011 season. If you are interested in coming out to play, please contact us. We are looking for both men and women (wheelchair rugby is mixed gender) of all abilities and experience levels.

Who can play?

To be eligible to play wheelchair rugby competitively, athletes must have some form of disability with a loss of function in both the upper and lower limbs (most players have spinal cord injuries at the level of their cervical vertebrae, while others have amputations, polio, or neurological disorders such as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, etc.).

Players are classified according to their functional level and assigned a point value ranging from 0.5 (the lowest functional level) to 3.5 (the highest). The total classification value of all players on the court for a team at one time cannot exceed eight points.

The classification process begins with an assessment of the athlete's level of disability to determine if the minimum eligibility requirements for wheelchair rugby are met. The athlete completes a series of muscle tests designed to evaluate the strength and range of motion of the upper limbs and trunks to determine classification (classification frequently includes subsequent observation of the athlete in competition or play).

For more information on classification and who is eligible to play, please visit the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation website. There is also a good article on wheelchair rugby on Wikipedia.

I’M NOT SURE IF I’M ELIGIBLE, BUT I STILL WANT TO PLAY

Many people play wheelchair rugby recreationally without being eligible to play competitively (for instance, paraplegics who have tried wheelchair basketball but have been discouraged because they were unable to lift or shoot the ball or who lack chair handling skills). If you have any questions about whether you would be welcome at practices, please contact us – the odds are we’d be happy to have you.