2010WWRC's blog

In this special, double-edition of our series we'll travel to the southern hemisphere to take a look at Australia and New Zealand!

Australia is currently the #2-ranked team in the world for good reason. They have arguably the best player in the game today on their roster and Coach Brad Dubberley always has them ready to perform at their best. Look for Australia to keep the ball on the ground in Ryley Batt's hands.

This edition of our series focuses on one of the speediest teams in the world. . .Japan! They are currently ranked #7 overall and have given many of the top teams in the world some close games. Japan is a good dark-horse pick to knock off one of the top-seeded teams to get a medal.

Some players to watch are:

We will continue our journey of discovery with the #6-ranked team in the world, team Sweden. The Swedes are an up-and-coming team with a lot of relatively new faces to the international wheelchair rugby scene. They are characterized by their high-functioning and speedy high-pointers and they have been constantly improving under the tutelage of Bocci sensation Marco Dispaltro.

Some players to watch are:

Well, we are halfway into our July training camp and things are as intense as usual with Team Canada. With September approaching, our excitement is palpable and the intensity of camp has risen another notch. I think now is a good time to review the teams coming to Worlds, so let's start the first portion of my new series:

I’m happy to say that the pace of life has been slightly more relaxed since I returned from Canada. All that remained of GB’s domestic season was the National Championships at Stoke Mandeville. London players revert back to their league teams for this tournament so bragging rights were on the line between last year's winners, “Crusaders,” and this year's league winners and form team, “Storm”.

We're happy to introduce our newest blogger, Chris Rathje. Chris is not only a wheelchair rugby player, but he's also a published author and runs the motivational blog "Uplifting Empire." His book "Don't Be Afraid to Eat Soup With A Fork" came out this year and can be purchased through his blog.You can check out his blog here. Welcome to the blogging team, Chris!

Team Fire & Smile

Originally Appeared Online December 16, 2008

Well, the Canada Cup has come and gone with another second place finish for us. I know the level of competition was quite high but I can't help feel disappointed in the result. At the same time, it is somewhat heartening to know that we are right there and more than capable of coming out on top.

This year's Canada Cup saw the emergence of a new impact player on the international scene (Daisuke Ikezaki from Japan) and the reclassification of veteran players Troye Collins (GB) and Steve Porter (AUS).

We arrived in Montreal a day after Hamilton and Button’s one-two in the F1, looking to pick up where they’d left off. Brutal heat courtside and a punishing schedule really ramped up the pressure on GB in their final warm up tournament before Worlds.

What sport?

I had no idea what to expect as I travelled by Coach to the Hilton Hotel at London Bridge. All we had been told was that we were required to remain atcCamp over the weekend for a filming assignment. Working with the media isn’t uncommon for us as athletes and any publicity we can get is welcomed as it can only throw more light on our sport and us. The thing is, the press normally come to us and it’s all fairly standard stuff. They ask questions, we give answers, nobody is particularly controversial etc…