Photos by Steve Andrascik/VieWTop, Sin City Skulls wheelchair rugby team member Michael Schacherbauer, second from left at front, moves with the ball, while teammate Sergio Garcia, left, defends him during practice on Jan. 11 at the Chuck Minker Sports Complex, 275 Mojave Road. Below, referee Cora Jones, left, and coach Brad Oram change a tire on Garcia?s wheelchair during the session.
Photos by Steve Andrascik/VieWTop, Sin City Skulls wheelchair rugby team member Michael Schacherbauer, second from left at front, moves with the ball, while teammate Sergio Garcia, left, defends him during practice on Jan. 11 at the Chuck Minker Sports Complex, 275 Mojave Road. Below, referee Cora Jones, left, and coach Brad Oram change a tire on Garcia?s wheelchair during the session.
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Rugby has a reputation. It's a hard sport. Bodies are slammed, jammed and tossed about in pursuit of what a newbie to the sport might mistake for a volleyball, but is actually harder to the touch, harder to grasp and even harder to hold onto.
There may be battle-scarred NFL players who will not go near a Rugby toss-up. But the rough-and-ready nature of the game has not stopped the Sin City Skulls, a Las Vegas-based team of players who thrive on the grit and gore of the sport. What's more, this line-up of nine athletes plows through the nastier moments of team practice and division tournament play in battle-ready wheelchairs.
"This is an unimaginably competitive sport," Sin City Skulls coach Brad Oram said. "It's like demolition derby with wheelchairs."
The Sin City Skulls is one of 45 organized teams in the United States Quad Rugby Association, which was formed in 1988 to help regulate and promote the sport on an international and national level. Players of the game must have imparities in all four limbs. This combination of upper and lower body impairment ranges from cervical level spinal injuries and/or various classifications of quadriplegia. It would seem this qualification for making the team would be enough of a challenge. It isn't. The most crucial component in any quad rugby athlete's eligibility is endurance. And attitude.
"I like it rough," said CJ Arinwine, Sin City Skulls team captain. "I've always been the player who does all the dirty work."
Arinwine first joined the team in 1996. Driving from California to Las Vegas in December 1991 to visit family, Arinwine reached Jean before he fell asleep at the wheel. He was treated at UMC for C-6/C-7 spinal injury. In addition to serving as team captain, leading twice weekly practices at Chuck Minker Sports Complex at 275 Mojave Road and revving up for tournaments, Arinwine works as a counselor for a nonprofit organization dealing with transitional services.
For several years, the team disbanded for lack of players, then came back with a full roster in 2004. Arinwine has served as team captain since that time. The team's return is both a blessing and a curse, as it reflects not only an increase in interest in the sport, but an increase in spinal cord injuries, as well, said Arinwine.
"A lot of those injuries are a result of everyday life. People falling asleep at the wheel, like I did. Or making bad decisions while driving," he said.
And while the incidences of injury that have brought so many of the players to the team are not ideal, the growth of athletes and their opportunity to exceed their personal best is a triumph in any sport, according to team leaders.
"We're a very cohesive unit on and off the court," said Bob Murray, who has been team manager for the Sin City Skulls since 1996. "The team is doing phenomenal. There's no difference between our level of play and able-bodied rugby. The only difference is, we have a vested interest."
Murray, who graduated from Western High School, played semi-pro football for the Las Vegas Ramblers. Having helped to run youth and adult programs in wheelchair track and field, wheelchair swimming and wheelchair tennis through the Las Vegas Adaptive Recreation Division at 749 Veterans Memorial Drive, he was hooked.
"We run events and clinics through city of Las Vegas Adaptive Recreation in any and every sport you can think of. And if we haven't run it, we're thinking about it," Murray said.
Player Brandon Jones sustained injuries in a rollover as a 20-year-old United States Marine fresh out of boot camp. Jones drives himself down from St. George, Utah, every weekend for the two-day practice. It is this dedication to the team and the hard edge to the sport itself that Oram believes is a benefit to players of all abilities, but particularly to wheelchair players.
"Many guys come in and they don't think they can do it until they break through those boundaries," he said. "They get past those and it's amazing. These guys teach each other skills that translate into their everyday lives. Independence. That's the biggest thing this sport gives to a player."
Aptly referred to as "MurderBall," the sport was introduced to the U.S. in 1981 and was brought to public attention by the 2005 documentary "Murderball," which went on to win a 2005 Documentary Audience Award and Special Jury Prize for editing at the Sundance Film Festival.
The Sin City Skulls practice twice a week, year round at the Chuck Minker Sports Complex. Fees for practice time and in-town travel are provided by the city of Las Vegas Adaptive Recreation Division.
The Skulls must provide transportation and fees for out-of-town events, such as the upcoming sectional tournament March 7-8 in North Ridge, Calif., hosted by the North Ridge Kings and nationals, which will take place in Louisville, Ky., April 10-13.
For more information about supporting or joining the Sin City Skulls, contact Oram at coach@SinCitySkulls.net or visit the team Web site at quadrugby.com. For additional information about the city of Las Vegas Adaptive Recreation Division, call 229-4796.
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