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February 6, 2010

On wheels of steel: Wheelchair rugby makes local man a team player

By Matt Snyder

COOLSPRING TOWNSHIP — They call it wheelchair rugby, or quad rugby, depending on where you live.

It’s not really rugby. It’s played on a basketball court, four men to a team, with a volleyball type ball that they dribble and have to take across the goal similar to football.

But they settled on “wheelchair rugby” because its other name is murder ball, and that was hard to market, said participant Joshua McFadden of Coolspring Township.

The name “murder ball” came from the intense impact of wheelchairs common in the sport, McFadden said. A contact sport, it’s not uncommon for the chairs to collide with sufficient force to shoot off sparks, he said.

McFadden’s wheelchair has undergone some modifications. The tires are cambered out 30-degrees to make it hard to tip and easier to turn, and there’s a bumper for protection during the collisions.

A metal worker since high school, McFadden has modified his own wheelchair. For his everyday-use chair, he added tires more suitable for a mountain bike, and replaced some of the plastic components that he kept damaging with metal ones. It helps with the snow and other western Pennsylvania terrain.

On the court, though, McFadden also makes some of the parts his team uses. In a sport that’s hard to fund, it keeps costs down, he said.

Wheelchair rugby is a sport for people with disabilities. In McFadden’s case, he suffers from partial paralysis stemming from a four-wheeler accident while helping a friend collect fire wood in 2005.

Most people who are paralyzed have one break in their spine, McFadden said. He has eight, including three in his neck.

Swelling from the injuries put pressure on nerves, and he also lost some feeling and function in his hands. He wears special gloves to help him get a grip on the ball.

McFadden, who is 27, was introduced to quad rugby during his physical therapy. He had to wait until about two years ago to play, though, because of his surgeries.

He never considered himself an athletic person, but now he works out at Barbenders Gym in Hermitage, then meets up with the Pittsburgh Steelwheelers once a week to play.

“I never really played on a team before, so it was something I had to get used to,” McFadden said. The exercise to stay in shape for quad rugby is also good for him, he said. It makes it easier for him to breathe, move around, and keep up his energy level.

Costs are always an issue, and so is the distance – with some members from as far north as Erie – so they only get together to play or practice about once a week, McFadden said.

But the game gives him a chance to compete and to socialize. Getting 50 guys in wheelchairs together is not just a chance to play, but a chance to talk and carry on, he said. And while the sport may be intense, he said the atmosphere is friendly.

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