Irish Wheelchair Association – Sport (IWA – Sport) has been granted the hosting of the Wheelchair Rugby European Qualifying Championships from the 7th to the 9th of February 2013 in Gormanston College, Co Meath.
This tournament will see Ireland, Italy, Holland and the Czech Republic compete for two places in the European Championships in Antwerp, Belgium in August 2013.
The tournament will begin on Thursday evening the 7th of February with Ireland taking on the Czech Republic and Italy facing Holland.
Supporters are welcome to attend at any stage over the three days and admission is free.
The fixtures and times are as follows;
Thursday 7th of February
Opening ceremony Time 6pm
Ireland v Czech Republic Time: 615pm
Holland v Italy Time: 8pm
Friday 8th of February
Ireland v Italy Time: 11am
Holland v Czech Republic Time: 1pm
Ireland v Holland Time: 6pm
Italy v Czech Republic Time: 745pm
Saturday 9th of February
3rd v 4th Time: 2pm
1st v 2nd Time: 430pm
Ends
Further information
Nicky Hamill, Director of Sport, IWA – Sport
Nicky.hamill@iwa.ie |01 818 6422| 087 9453836 | www.iwasport.com/wrecq
About Wheelchair Rugby – Wheelchair Rugby is a mixed team sport for male and female quadriplegic athletes. A unique sport created by athletes with a disability, it combines elements of rugby, basketball and handball. Players compete in manual wheelchairs specifically designed for the sport. Players compete in teams of four to carry the ball across the opposing team’s goal line. Contact between wheelchairs is permitted, and is in fact an integral part of the sport as players use their chairs to block and hold opponents. Players must meet minimum disability criteria and be classifiable under the sport classification rules. Wheelchair Rugby is a Paralympic sport, with twenty-six countries competing in international competition and more than ten others developing national programs.
About Irish Wheelchair Association Sport (IWA- Sport) IWA Sport is the National Governing Body (NGB) in Ireland for sport for people with physical disability and our mission is to provide opportunities for people with a disability to participate in sport at a level of their choice.
IWA – Sport is primarily funded by the Irish Sports Council and we deliver an annual programme of services in line with our 2012 – 2015 strategy including recreational and competitive participation opportunities, multi sport junior level and sports specific participation opportunities, home and international competition opportunities, high performance programmes and other forms of expertise in areas including access consultation, advocacy and a general focus on increasing the awareness of our services.
As a multi sport NGB our highest participative sports are as follows; wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, athletics, swimming, table tennis, archery, sailing, handcycling, tennis, boccia and bowls. We also promote other sports and while this list is not exhaustive it currently includes, fishing, rowing, cue sports, badminton, powerlifting and volleyball.