Smashing expectations Wheelchair rugby a game changer for athletes with disabilities By: Massimo De Luca-Taronno Posted: 11:56 AM CST Friday, Nov. 29, 2024 Last Modified: 9:24 AM CST Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024 Updates

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This article was published 29/11/2024 (374 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In 1977, a team of quadriplegic wheelchair basketball athletes in Winnipeg created an alternative sport to accommodate people with reduced function in their arms and hands. They called it murderball.

Almost 50 years later, the game, now officially known as wheelchair rugby, has become one of the most popular gateways for those with a disability who want to remain in sport.

An example is Reese Ketler, a 24-year-old member of Team Canada’s wheelchair rugby team.

“It (wheelchair rugby) gives me something to look forward to,” Ketler said this week during a practice at the Canada Games Sport For Life Centre. “I’m really lucky to have this outlet — I wouldn’t be the same without it.”

It’s been nearly five years since Ketler was paralyzed from a major spinal cord injury that he suffered during a Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League game.

The former player for the St. Vital Victorias was taken heavily into the boards after driving to the net, causing permanent damage to his lower body and temporary numbness to the upper body.

Ketler, who was hospitalized for four months, said the first year after the injury was the hardest.

“Everything was taken away from me that year,” he said. “You basically learn everything from scratch — everything from how to pick up a glass to opening a jar lid.”

Although Ketler’s world was turned upside down, it was also how he discovered a new sporting outlet.

“I remember Jared visited me in the hospital, and he told me if I wanted to get back into sport, I should give it a shot,” Ketler said. “Less than six weeks later, I sat in the rugby wheelchair and haven’t looked back since.”

Jared is Jared Funk, Ketler’s wheelchair rugby coach and teammate. Funk, 50, was paralyzed in a car accident at age 21. Ever since, he has been recruiting people like Ketler to give the sport a try.

“I saw he (Reese) had a great opportunity to make something of his bad circumstance, and he did,” Funk said.

“When you’re first injured, you’re probably at the lowest point of your life, but you look at Reese now, and he is a Team Canada member — it’s pretty cool to see that growth.”

Funk, who’s been involved in the sport for more than 30 years, played for Canada in three Paralympic Games — in Athens (2004), Beijing (2008) and London (2012).

His goal has always been to help as many people stay active post-injury, whether that be in wheelchair rugby or another sport.

“If I can help just one guy, that’s a check mark right there,” Funk said.

In May, Funk and Ketler played in the Wheelchair Rugby National Championships in Calgary, when they captured gold in Division 2 as part of a combined Saskatchewan-Manitoba team.

As a member of Team Canada, Ketler also gets to travel four to five times a year.

“Traveling is one of the best parts,” he said. “We get to go to cool places, and it’s nice the national team makes it accessible for everyone, no matter their financial situation or physical limitations.”

Ketler was in Birmingham, Ala., two weeks ago for an invitational tournament and is set to return in January, where he will be competing against teams from Australia, Japan and the United States.

A proud member of Team Canada, his next big goal is to compete at the Paralympic Games.

His father, Trevor Ketler, knows it’s a tough task but believes it’s a possibility.

“I have all my confidence in Reese,” said Trevor. “He’s a very hard worker, and he’s going to do whatever it takes.”

During Reese’s twice-weekly training sessions at Sport For Life Centre, Trevor works as a support volunteer, helping transfer players in and out of their chairs and fixing flat tires.

Having volunteered for more than three years, it was only natural the elder Ketler wanted to take a wheelchair for a spin and give the sport a try.

“It truly is a humbling experience,” said Trevor, a fixture on the local cycling scene. “It gave me a better understanding of all the limitations there are with wheeling around in a chair.”

Meanwhile, Funk said the physical nature of wheelchair rugby is his favourite part when introducing people to the sport.

“When you think of people with disabilities or people in wheelchairs, you think of them as fragile or weak, but the first time you watch wheelchair rugby, you see guys smash into each other and go flying,” said Funk.

“At the beginning people ask, ‘Oh my gosh, are they OK?’ and by the end they’re all cheering,” Funk said. “It defies all logic regarding how others think about people with disabilities.”

Five years ago, Funk visited Reese Ketler at HSC to help him find a new purpose in sport. Today, he is often accompanied by Ketler in reaching out to other newly injured athletes, urging them to give wheelchair rugby a try.