By Christian Fehlberg
BYU has a tradition of organizing a few non-traditional intramural sports leagues for students each year, such as innertube water polo and floor hockey, both of which are on the schedule for this coming winter semester.
One of the non-traditional intramural sports being offered this year involves big hits and red cards. Granted, when it comes to intramurals, that doesn''t narrow it down much.
Well, in addition to rough play and penalty cards, this intramural sport also involves eight wheelchairs. The sport is wheelchair rugby, or quad rugby, as it is often called, and is becoming one of the more popular non-traditional intramural sports at BYU.
When most people hear about the sport, they get a confused look on their faces and say, 'How does that work?'
Surprisingly, the sport is more like 'real' rugby than one might expect.
'Basically the object is to throw the ball back and forth and smash into people,' said Bobby Stewart, a freshman from York, South Carolina majoring in elementary education. 'The best part is running into people.'
The biggest differences between wheelchair rugby and 'real' rugby are wheelchair rugby is played on a regulation basketball court, rather than on a playing field, and the ball used is a volleyball, instead of a rugby ball --chasing a loose rugby ball in a wheelchair would be tricky, to say the least.
A team scores when one player crosses the goal line with possession of the ball.
'It is a lot of fun once you get going,' Stewart said. 'It does a lot to balance the playing field for people who aren''t able to do other sports-if you were running around playing, well, then I wouldn''t be playing.'
Stewart was born with a form of muscular dystrophy called Becker''s, and although he gets around fine with the help of his skooter and a cane, the disability prevents him from participating in many sports.
'The first organized team I ever played on was an intramural basketball team last year,' Stewart said. 'It was fun, but I couldn''t contribute a whole lot.'
Stewart said wheelchair rugby is the first team sport he has participated in where he really feels like he is part of the team.
He was first introduced to the sport several years ago at a Muscular Dystrophy Association camp near Charlotte, N.C. While he was at the camp, a semi-professional wheelchair rugby team came to put on an exhibition, he said.
'We watched them play for a while, and then they asked some of us...to play with them,' Stewart said.
Stewart said he kept getting assists instead of scoring himself. After a while, his teammates started getting on his case for passing so much instead of looking to score.
'I didn''t want to score,' he said. 'I just wanted to smash people.'
That attitude hasn''t changed much since he was first introduced to the sport, and neither has his competitive nature.
'Unfortunately, I''m a little too competitive to say, ''Oh, if we loose, who cares?''' he said with a grin on his face. 'Instead, I''m like, ''No, we have to hit them harder next time.'''
In fact, Stewart said he thinks the reason he was born with a disability is so that he wouldn''t be able to injure other people-or himself-very easily.
'I have the mentality where I don''t care if a guy is 6 5, 300 pounds, you hit him in the numbers and drive him into the ground,' Stewart said. 'This is my first chance to play a sport where I can try to do that.'
As tough as wheelchair rugby may sound, it is fairly safe and is appropriate for anyone who wants to play. The BYU intramural wheelchair rugby league is coed and has participants of all different sizes.
'I can''t really compete in that many sports because I''m so tiny,' said Catsie Derocher, one of Stewart''s teammates, a junior from Manchester, N.H. majoring in psychology teaching. 'I don''t have a lot of speed, I don''t have a lot of brute strength or agility, but I can play wheelchair rugby.'
Stewart''s team, the Electric Chairs, is just one of over 20 teams participating in the league this season. Although some of the students participating have disabilities, most of the students in the league aren''t disabled, but just thought the sport sounded like fun.
The sport is unique because it gives everyone an opportunity to have a good time and contribute to the game, whether they are world-class athletes or not.
'It''s really fun,' Stewart said. 'It is great to show up and play and have a good time.'