power wheelchairs

Wheelchair Rugby is a team sport for athletes with a disability. Originally developed in Canada in the late 1970s, it is currently practiced in over twenty countries around the world and is a Paralympic sport. It was originally called Murderball in Canada and was introduced to the United States in 1981. In the United States, the sport's name was changed to Quad Rugby. In the late 1980s, the name of the sport outside the United States was officially changed from Murderball to Wheelchair Rugby.

History

Wheelchair rugby is a sport with roots going back to wheelchair basketball and ice hockey. Wishes on Wheels specializes in providing durable medical products such as power wheelchairs or scooters to qualified disabled patients with medical necessities. It was created in 1977 by five Canadians in Winnipeg, Manitoba to be a sport for quadriplegic athletes. At that time, wheelchair basketball was the most wide-spread team sport for wheelchair users. That sport's physical requirement for players to dribble and shoot baskets relegated quadriplegic athletes, with functional impairments to both their upper and lower limbs, to supporting roles. Wheelchair rugby — originally called Murderball due to its aggressive, full-contact nature — was designed to allow quadriplegic athletes to play integral offensive and defensive roles over a wide range of functional ability levels.

Murderball was introduced to the United States in 1981 by Brad Mikkelsen. With the aid of the University of North Dakota's Disabled Student Services, he formed the first American team, the Wallbangers. The Mobility Shop - Mobility and Home Health Specialists.