Newcomer Embraces Wheelchair Lacrosse at National Championships
Two months ago, Taylor Roberts had never held a lacrosse stick. Now, the Richmond, Va., resident is competing at the national championships, learning to deliver and absorb hits in a sport that challenges every assumption about athletes with disabilities.
“There’s a weird stigma around people with disabilities being fragile,” says Roberts, who plays for Sportable Crush. “So, it’s nice to get out there and kind of smack. You get smacked around, and you smack other people around. It’s liberating.”
Roberts is among 120 wheelchair lacrosse players from 10 teams competing at the RMU Island Sports Center in Pittsburgh, Pa., representing the 2025 Wheelchair Lacrosse USA (WLUSA) eighth national championships and the largest field in the tournament’s history.
From Solitude To Team Play
The 30-year-old Roberts sustained an incomplete L1-L2 spinal cord injury in a February 2015 car accident. For eight years afterward, she dedicated herself to competitive rowing, a sport that demanded solitude and precision but lacked the physical intensity she now craves.
“With rowing in particular, you train in solitude and there’s no contact,” Roberts says. “Even before I was injured, I was pretty athletic, but I never played contact sports. So, it’s a brand new experience for me overall.”
The transition happened quickly. Roberts first used a sports wheelchair in May and began learning wheelchair lacrosse fundamentals just two months before nationals. A friend from Sportable recommended the sport, and Roberts found herself drawn to its demanding physicality.
“I love it because I have to bring a different level of intensity to lacrosse compared to pretty much anything else in my life,” she says. “It’s almost like I have to tap into a different part of who I am.”
Embracing Contact Sports
The adjustment to contact sports required some mental reprogramming. Roberts recalls her first instruction to stick-check an opponent.
“I was like, are you sure? And I immediately apologize because you don’t want to hurt anybody, and it’s just a part of the game,” she says. “It’s meant to be rough, and you just kind of get better at taking it and dealing it out, too.”
The learning curve extends beyond individual skills to team dynamics. Sportable Crush is fielding its first championship team in nearly six years, with a roster that represents the program’s largest in years.
“We’re still learning how to play together, but I think we’re all really enjoying the experience,” Roberts says. “If I look like I’m doing anything right out there, it’s because of them.”
Tournament Growth
The national championships have evolved significantly since their 2016 inception, according to Shawn Maloney of WLUSA. Early tournaments featured informal “sticks in the middle” formats, where players formed impromptu teams, rather than representing organized programs.
“Competition is better every year,” Maloney says. “It’s cool to see some of the teams, like Houston and New Hampshire that have only been around for a couple of years. They’re getting real competitive real fast.”
This year’s tournament expanded beyond wheelchair lacrosse to include amputee players competing in a sixes format — featuring six players per side playing on a smaller field with a shorter shot clock and time-based quarters — at the adjacent Sports Dome, signaling the sport’s broader growth in adaptive athletics.
This year’s championships also feature increasing female participation, with most teams carrying one to two female players and some fielding more. Tournament organizers are considering an all-female exhibition game at a future event.
Academic Mission … Athletic Passion
Roberts brings unique perspective to her athletic pursuits through her academic work. Currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy degree in environmental science at the University of Rhode Island, her dissertation focuses on environmental access for underserved communities — research inspired by her own post-injury experience in maintaining outdoor recreation.
“I loved being outdoors before my injury, and I was worried that I would lose that once I was in the wheelchair,” Roberts says. “When I learned that there were ways to still get out there and enjoy it, I was like, ‘We should spread the word and tell people how to facilitate this.’”
Her research examines rhetoric around why certain communities don’t access outdoor spaces and works to break down existing barriers without impairing ecosystems.
Championship Mindset
Despite her newcomer status, Roberts approaches the tournament with measured expectations focused on development rather than results.
“The thing I’m looking forward to most is that I learn something from every game we play,” she says. “Even if we are not the highest scoring team out there, I know we’re going to come away from this having learned a lot.”
The sentiment reflects a broader tournament philosophy as emerging programs like Houston and New Hampshire rapidly close competitive gaps with established teams. For Roberts, the experience validates wheelchair lacrosse’s capacity to welcome newcomers while maintaining elite-level competition.
“There’s a lot of imposter syndrome,” she admits. “But it’s crazy to think that I only started playing this just a couple of months ago, and [now] I’m competing in a championship.”
Pool play continues through the weekend, (Aug. 22-23), showcasing a sport that challenges mainstream perceptions about adaptive athletics while providing full-contact competition that Roberts describes as “transformational.”
“Everybody brings a lot of passion and joy to the sport,” she says. “It’s hard to not be excited about it.”