Author: Editor Prime

Josco Wilke is a key player and top performer in the German national wheelchair rugby team. As the youngest player and newcomer to the team at the beginning, Wilke has developed into an indispensable part of the team, with his experience in field hockey also helping him. He was named best player at his first European Championship in Denmark in 2018 and has played an important key role in the team ever since.

The German national team last took part in the Beijing 2008 Paralympics. At the time, Wilke was seven years old and didn’t even know that the sport of wheelchair rugby even existed. Together with his team, Wilke will give everything to fulfill his dream and to take part in the Paralympics and take his team to success after a 16-year wait.

Kae Kurahashi was the first female player to represent Japan in wheelchair rugby and was a key member of the team that won WWR World Championship gold for the first time in the nation’s history in Sydney, Australia, in 2018.
 
The addition of Kurahashi has been instrumental in Japan’s rise in wheelchair rugby.

For Information:
Teams of four players on court cannot exceed 8.0 Classification points. A World Wheelchair Rugby competition rule currently allows competing teams an additional 0.5 points for every female player on-court.

USA co-captain Chuck Aoki has been playing wheelchair rugby for half of his life. Arguably one of the most well-known wheelchair rugby athletes in the world, Aoki discovered the sport like so many others – by watching the documentary Murderball. As a 16-year-old, he was immediately attracted to the physicality of the sport and begged his mother to let him play. According to Aoki, after months of asking, she finally relented and took him to his first practice in Minnesota.

Now a veteran on the USA roster, Aoki makes history as the first four-time US Paralympian in the sport of wheelchair rugby, previously competing and medalling at the London 2012 (bronze), Rio 2016 (silver) and Tokyo 2020 (silver) Games. In addition to his Paralympic appearances, Aoki’s 16 consecutive seasons with USA, the most of any athlete, have also earned him four world championship medals (2010 gold, 2014 bronze, 2018 bronze, 2022 silver) and three Parapan American medals (2015 silver, 2019 gold, 2023 gold).

Considered by many as the world’s best player, the powerful Australian has very few weaknesses. Speed, strength and incredible game awareness makes Ryley Batt almost impossible to stop. Paris 2024 will be his sixth Paralympics and he will look to lead his country to a third gold medal.

The Rio 2016 gold medal match against the USA will go down as one of the greatest in Games history, with Batt making some unbelievable plays as Australia won a double-overtime thriller, 59-58. However, Australia placed fourth at the Paralympics in Tokyo 2020, losing out in the bronze medal match to Japan, 60-52. Batt will be determined to return to the podium at Paris 2024.

Wheelchair rugby, a dynamic and high-impact Paralympic sport, has long been beloved for its intensity, skill, and teamwork. However, women, girls and non-binary individuals have historically been underrepresented in this electrifying game. World Wheelchair Rugby (WWR) has formed a task force with the goal of increasing women, girls and non-binary individuals’ participation in wheelchair rugby on a global scale.

The goal of this survey is to gain input from the wheelchair rugby community about recruitment and retention, lived experiences of wheelchair rugby, barriers to participation, potential solutions, as well as your thoughts on a vision for the future.

We welcome the voices and perspectives of anyone over the age of 18 engaged with wheelchair rugby. We do ask that you identify the stakeholder group you belong to and provide some demographic information, but otherwise your replies will be anonymous. The survey should take about 15 minutes.

To access the survey in English or French, click one of the links:

EN: https://bit.ly/world-wheelchair-rugby-gender-equity-survey

FR: https://bit.ly/world-wheelchair-rugby-enquête-équité-entre-les-sexes

Please complete the survey by August 23, 2024. Thank you in advance for your time and effort in completing this survey.

If you have any questions about the accessibility of this survey, you can contact:aspender@thegreater.ca

WWR is pleased to announce and recognise the 33 strong team heading out to the Paris Paralympics to oversee and officiate the wheelchair rugby tournament.

John Timms (GBR) is the WWR International Federation Delegate “This is a great team of people who have been committed and hard working over a number of years.  They have come through a selection process to obtain their opportunity to officiate and deliver a World Class Tournament, working alongside the amazing teams and athletes.”

The WWR Management and Officiating Team for Paris 2024 Paralympics:

Senior Management Team

John Timms	IF Delegate	GBR
Tim Johnson	Deputy IF Delegate	NZL
Melanie Beziat	Head Table Official	FRA
Izabela Sauerbier	Supervisor Classifier	POL
Alison Bridge	WWR Liaison	GBR
Darren Roberts	Head Official	USA

International Technical Officials

Jonathan Corson	Assistant Head Official	NZL
Katja Grotensohn	Evaluator	GER
Christian van de Riet	Evaluator	SUI
Brian Ward	Game Commissioner	GBR
Nicole Hoim	Game Commissioner	GER
Kevin Bowie	Referee	CAN
Joseph Bongiovanni	Referee	USA
Kristin Hempfling	Referee	GER
Liam Costello	Referee	AUS
Joshua Kearns	Referee	USA
Paulina Szmit	Referee	POL
Pierre-Alexandre Briere	Referee	CAN
Lukasz Szymczak	Referee	POL

National Technical Officials

Nadine Bieneck	GER
Thomas Candela	FRA
Christine Ducret	FRA
Stana Felicite	FRA
Camille Kerneguez	FRA
Manon Lombard	FRA
Victor Meynier	FRA
Karolina Motejkova	BEL
Jana Slavickova	CZE
Sara Viguier	FRA
Aurelie Weislo	FRA
Heather Williams	GBR

Media Team

Joe Elliott	WWR Media	GBR
Megumi Masuda	WWR Photographer	JPN

The Paris 2024 Competition Schedule is now available to view!

We are excited to announce the pools for the Paris 2024 Paralympics Wheelchair Rugby Competition!

Watch the premiere now on the WWR YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/Nfd79W2or90

World Wheelchair Rugby (WWR) would like to recognise and congratulate its President, Richard Allcroft who has received the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours List for “services to Wheelchair Rugby”.

Following a six year tenure on the WWR Board he ran a successful campaign and was elected as President in 2018. Richard’s vision was based on WWR being recognised and respected as a leading International Federation within the Paralympic Movement. 

In addition, he has been involved in wheelchair sports and the Paralympic Movement for 30 years mainly with Wheelchair Rugby. Working with his local wheelchair sports club, National Governing Body and other roles such as International Federation Delegate for the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Richard has lead WWR successfully through the Covid Pandemic and subsequently a number major developments including the rebranding of the International Federation as World Wheelchair Rugby and continues working with partners World Rugby developing links and a number of projects including the International Wheelchair Rugby Cup staged at the Rugby World Cup.

Richard is also actively involved at the Sheffield Spinal Injuries Centre (SIC) in the UK.  This is with the knowledge and support of the consultants and all involved with the multi-disciplinary team.  The role centres around peer support, advice and educating patients in assistive technology in partnership with a large National charity called Aspire.

Front: Rob Tarr, Richard Allcroft, Tim Johnson
Back: Joe Elliott, Kathy Newman, Stan Battock, Jacques Erasmus, Greg Ungerer, Alison Bridge, John Timms

Thank you to the WWR Heads of Working Group and Staff for attending a series of workshops in Sheffield this week for 3 days.

Richard Allcroft, President, said: “It was a great few days listening to the discussions that will help shape the future of the sport. Whilst we know we have many challenges and some amazing opportunities, this group of people do an amazing job contributing to our success at World Wheelchair Rugby.”