Wheelchair Rugby was invented in 1977 in Winnipeg, Canada. In 1993 with 15 countries actively participating, the wheelchair rugby was recognized as an official sport for athletes with a disability, and the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation (IWRF) was established as a sport. In 1994, Wheelchair Rugby was officially recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as a Paralympic sport. Currently, there are more than forty countries that actively participate in the sport of wheelchair rugby, or who are developing programs within their nation.

About Wheelchair Rugby

• A unique sport created by athletes with a disability, it combines elements of rugby, basketball and handball. Players compete in teams of four to carry the ball across the opposing team’s goal line.
• Wheelchair Rugby is a coed team sport for male and female tetraplegic athletes. It is an invasion and evasion game, the object being to carry the ball across the opposing team’s goal line to score points.
• 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.

• Wheelchair Rugby Rule Book – Download

Development in India

• Now since last five years game has much developed and wheelchair users from different states are practicing it on their manual wheelchair.
• We have conducted Wheelchair Rugby Training Camps across different states of India.
• We are continuously providing information to other states teams through all possible channels.
• Currently there are 200+ Wheelchair Rugby players all over India and 18 state team practicing wheelchair Rugby on regular basis.

International Participation

• This game was introduced in India in 2009 during IWAS Tournament in Bangalore where a team from India played against Team Brazil.

• On 5th-11th November’13, four members from Team India had participated in 1st ASIAN Rugby Tournament in South Korea and there they got full training on rules and skills from international coach.

• Wheelchair Rugby Team of India had participated in TAFISA CUP in Indonesia between 6th -10th Oct’16.

• Recently Team India participated in IWRF Asia Regional Zone Championship between 9th -15th Nov’18, Thailand.

Domestic Tournaments

• In Association with IRFU, WRFI has organized Five Wheelchair Rugby Para National Championship between year 2017-2023.
• 18 state teams and around 200 Para Athletes have participated during the National Championship.
• WRFI is also conducting Jonathan Wheelchair Rugby All-Quads Tournament to select Athletes for National Team.
• State team associations are now conducting state level tournaments and Selection trial camps for National Tournaments.