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Quad rugby earns nickname ‘Murderball’

The Tribune-Review
By The Tribune-Review
1 Min Read June 4, 2007 | 19 years Ago
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The Steelwheelers are a quad rugby team in a sport nicknamed "Murderball" due to its full-contact, high-intensity action. Quad rugby regularly features hard hits that cause flat tires or dump the athletes from their wheelchairs.

"There's so much more than brutality to the sport," coach Bob Eyler said. "I was approached by someone who said you've got to play quad rugby. You nail people and they fly out of their chairs. Well, that night I bought a chair."

Murderball was developed in Canada in the late 1970s and now features teams worldwide for athletes who have suffered injuries that have left them with limited function in all four limbs.

Depending upon the functionability the player has, they are given one of seven possible classifications from .5 to 3.5. Each four member team cannot exceed 8 points, and has 40 seconds to score by passing two wheels over the goal line.

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