Wheelchair rugby length of game

The sport is open to both men and women, and is one of the only games which allows them to compete on the same team. Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby are constantly on the look out for referees, coaches, officials and support staff to help at training sessions and tournaments. The game is played on a basketball court, with boundary lines, a centre line, centre circle and two key areas.

Two cones at each end of the court mark out a goal area, and a goal is scored when a player carries a ball across the line. Games are played in four eight-minute quarters and each team has 40 seconds to score a goal before the ball gets turned over.

Chair-to-chair contact is allowed, but person-to-chair and person-to-person contact is not. Teams are made up of up to 12 players, with four on court at any one time. It spread from Canada to the US, and is now an international sport played in 26 countries. Wheelchair rugby players must play in manual wheelchairs.

Many players, especially those who are more advanced in the game, choose to use specialist, lightweight sports wheelchairs that are easier to manoeuvre and much quicker. When advancing to take part in competitions, there are specific requirements that wheelchairs must meet, for reasons of fairness. A wheelchair rugby ball is similar to a volleyball, and can be purchased specifically for the game.

Cones or markers are required to mark off the goals, and a clock that offers accurate sports timings is also required.

A regulation-sized basketball court is needed to play wheelchair rugby in competitive terms, however for practice or preparation, any similar setting may be acceptable. Hardwood surfaces are preferred, with sidelines, baselines, a mid-court line, a centre circle and two goal areas clearly marked. The surface must be accessible to wheelchair users. In the sport of Wheelchair Rugby there are two main types of wheelchair.

There two types are offensive wheelchairs and defensive wheelchairs. Offensive chairs are usually used in wheelchair rugby by those players with slightly greater upper body movement and mobility. The defensive wheelchair on the other hand are set up with bumpers which are specifically designed to hook onto opposing players and hold them in place so that they cannot move towards the goal line.

A player with possession of the ball must bounce or pass the ball within ten seconds. Teams have twelve seconds to advance the ball from their back court into the front court, and a total of forty seconds to score a point or concede possession. Latest News. Media Resources. Press Toolkit. Preview Events. Wheelchair Rugby.