New Brunswick hosts Wheelchair Rugby Championships for first time – New Brunswick | 24CA News
Crowds gathered on the Moncton Coliseum to look at groups from throughout Canada face off within the Canadian National Wheelchair Rugby Championships on Saturday.
“It’s a lot faster, a lot rougher than one would think,” spectator Merril Beach mentioned.
Beach travelled to Moncton from the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia to look at his nice niece compete over the weekend.
“The plays are fantastic and they’re hard to catch on to. It’s quite an exciting sport!” he mentioned.
It’s the primary time New Brunswick has ever hosted the event.
Parasports NB Executive Director Sally Hutt defined that the sport is performed by individuals who have a limitation in 3 out of 4 limbs.
“It’s a 4 on 4 game played on a basketball sized court,” she mentioned.
The recreation strikes shortly, with athletes wheeling up and down the courtroom and knocking into one another’s wheelchairs as they vie to carry the ball over the opposing crew’s line.
Three-time paralympian Patrice Dagenais was in Moncton on Saturday as a part of Ontario’s crew.
He mentioned the game gave him a lifeline after struggling a spinal wire harm at 18 years outdated.
“It made a huge difference just meeting some guys that had the same challenges,” he mentioned. “It just allowed me to become independent to be able to travel around the world play in competitions, it just made a huge difference in my life.”
Dagenais has his sights set on competing the 2024 Paralympic video games in Paris.
Hutt mentioned many athletes play for the sense of neighborhood.
“A lot of our athletes had a traumatic accident or a congenital disability…so it’s more than sport in our community,” she mentioned.
There are presently two wheelchair rugby golf equipment working in New Brunswick, one in Moncton and the opposite in Fredericton. There can also be a provincial crew.
Hutt mentioned Parasports NB holds a street present every summer time the place they go to communities throughout the province so individuals within the sport can strive it.
She mentioned anybody fascinated by taking on the game can contact the group on-line.
“Having the opportunity for athletes to meet other athletes who have the same experiences or just to learn tricks of the trade…it’s a great opportunity.”
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