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U.S. Paralympics Wheelchair Rugby National Team Wraps Successful Week at Can-Am 'Bama Duel
By Susan Katz
// Lakeshore Foundation
// September 8, 2007
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The U.S. Paralympics Wheelchair Rugby National Team has completed a successful week of competition at the inaugural Can-Am 'Bama Duel. The U.S. and Canadian national teams spent the past week at Lakeshore Foundation, an official U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Site, training and competing against one another.
The U.S. dominated the games, going 10-2 over the course of the week. The U.S. losses were each by only one point and one loss came in overtime, while the other came in a triple overtime thriller.
"The overall performance of our athletes this week was incredible," said U.S. head coach James Gumbert (Austin, Texas). "I was encouraged by our team's fundamentals, execution and ability to follow the game plan the coaching staff laid out for them. Our guys embraced the challenge of facing a very tough Canadian team, took it on and did a great job with it."
Throughout the course of the competition, the U.S. and Canadian squads split into two teams each. This gave a number of up-and-coming athletes the opportunity to gain more game experience. U.S. co-captain Bryan Kirkland (Leeds, Ala.) says this was a critical opportunity for a number of his teammates.
"We have a lot of guys on the team that have never played internationally before and this week's competition was a great opportunity for them to show what they're capable of doing, and the coaches needed to see that," said Kirkland.
The U.S. team now sets its sights squarely on the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China. All 18 members of the 2007 team, plus an additional six athletes, have been invited to the U.S. Paralympic Team selection camp, which will be held at Lakeshore Foundation, Dec. 13-16.
"There's going to be a lot of anxious athletes over the next 12 weeks as we get ready for tryouts," said Gumbert. "It's always a tough situation for the coaches having to make that selection, but I know the group that we choose to go to Beijing will do a phenomenal job representing the United States."
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