Kiwi’s set to host IWRF World Championships

worldpress

With just over a month left to prepare, organizers in Christchurch, New Zealand have announced that they are ready for the arrival of the worlds Top 12 Wheelchair Rugby teams in September. As many as 144 of the worlds best athletes are expected to visit this sporting city to compete at the International Wheelchair Rugby Federations (IWRF), fourth World Championship.

Hosted by Parafed Canterbury, tournament director Ken Sowden says that all of the major preparations are now in place, and the staff and volunteers are ready for the games to begin. And with 42 games to be played from September 12 to the 16^th, there will be plenty of action for everyone. Television coverage has been secured in New Zealand for the final games of World Championships as well. “The organizers in Christchurch are going all out and we expect that this will be a terrific event for our sport, as well as for the 12 countries that are traveling there.” stated IWRF President, Brad Mikkelsen.

Wheelchair Rugby is a fast paced, hard-hitting game that is played by disabled athletes who are quadriplegic, or have similar disabilities. The sport was recently featured as the subject of last year’s highly acclaimed documentary “Murderball”, a film that followed teams as they prepared and competed at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece.

The countries that will compete at the 2006 IWRF World Championships (as seeded) are:

1) New Zealand 2) Canada 3) The United States 4) Great Britain 5) Australia 6) Germany

7) Sweden 8) Japan 9) Denmark 10) Belgium 11) Switzerland 12) The Netherlands.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Bogetti-Smith

Results of this competition will be used to help seed future IWRF competitions leading up to the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China. The Paralympics are the second largest sporting event in the world following the Olympics, and take place in the same city and venues as the Olympic Games. Similar to the Olympics and Paralympics, World Championships for Wheelchair Rugby are held every four years.