Wheelchair Rugby originated in Canada in 1977 and was created by Jerry Terwin, Duncan Campbell, Randy Dueck, Paul LeJeune and Chris Sargent, 5 Canadian Wheelchair Athletes, to be a sport for Tetraplegics. The game was originally called Murderball due to its aggressive, full-contact nature and was designed to allow tetraplegic athletes with a wide range of functional ability levels, to play integral offensive and defensive roles. Wheelchair Rugby was introduced in the USA in the early 80’s followed by Great Britain later.
The first international tournament was held in Toronto, Canada in 1989, with club teams from Canada, USA and Great Britain competing. In 1990, Wheelchair Rugby first appeared at the International Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Games as an exhibition event and in 1993 and having 15 participating countries, the sport was recognised by the ISMWSF as an official sport. Thus an ISMWSF Wheelchair Rugby Sport Section was formed (IWRF).
The first Wheelchair Rugby World Championships were held in Nottwil, Switzerland in 1995. Wheelchair Rugby appeared as a demonstration sport in the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta and was granted full medal status at the Sydney Paralympic Games 2000.
There are currently 23 active countries competing in Wheelchair Rugby with several other countries in the process of developing the sport.
To visit the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation Website click here