PVA’s Wheelchair Rugby Invitational Kicks Off
When Chuck Scott first started playing wheelchair rugby six months ago, he loved it. But the Ohio Buckeye Blitz team member also learned one major lesson. He’d either have to stop smoking cigarettes or he couldn’t play. It was too hard to keep up with opposing players. So, the 35-year-old Army veteran eliminated cigarettes from his life.
“So, it’s the only way I can take my anger out without smoking a whole pack,” says Scott, who competed in his first Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) Wheelchair Rugby Invitational on Friday. “And that’s the reason I quit smoking. Because you can’t smoke and be that active in this without wanting to die on the court, because you’re running out of breath trying to keep up with all these other superstar athletes.”
Although his team went 0-2 during Friday’s opening day of the eighth annual PVA Wheelchair Rugby Invitational, Scott had a blast at the University of Louisville Student Recreation Center in Louisville, Ky. The tournament runs through Sunday.
Scott, who served from 2009 to 2011, was injured while on vacation in 2011 when he drove an all-terrain vehicle into a tree going about 60 mph in Myrtle Beach, S.C., leaving him with a level C6 complete spinal cord injury.
After rehabbing, he finally got into boccia a couple years ago, and now he’s found wheelchair rugby. He’s learning plenty about his new sport.
The PVA invitational has come quite a way from when it started back in 2018 and was called the Code of Honor Invitational at the Shooter Indoor Sports Complex in Midlothian, Va., when it had just six teams.
It’s up to 20 teams, with eight teams in Division I, six teams in Division II and another six teams in Division III, and crowns champions in each division.
Count Scott among the fans of having more teams and a bigger tournament. When he’s not playing, he can watch or talk to other players and pick up tips, tricks or develop friendships.
“It’s the best tournament I’ve been at so far in the past two years. And I’m counting the [National Veterans] Wheelchair Games and everything,” Scott says. “But there’s a lot more [people] here. So, I’m able to learn a lot more as well, build some camaraderie with some of the people that I do play against.”
Those teams also involve more than a handful of Paralympians, including 2024 U.S. Paralympians Chuck Aoki, Josh Wheeler, Sarah Adam, Mason Symons, Zion Redington, Eric Newby, Brad Hudspeth and Josh O’Neill, along with previous ones Joe Jackson, Scott Hogsett , Anthony McDaniel, Chuck Melton and Canadian Michael Whitehead and more.
Aoki, along with Wheeler, Adam, Symons and Redington, just helped lead the U.S. to a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics this past August and September. A University of Michigan club team player, Aoki’s team went 2-0 on Friday, including a win over Adam’s St. Louis Bombers. He likes having all the teams, three divisions and the format.
“It’s really cool to come to something that’s been led by such a cool group of PVA that does such a great job bringing everybody together. And so, yeah, it’s a fun thing to get to be a part of,” Aoki says. “And yeah, to have this many teams is cool to have. Just the levels of play from Division I all the way down to Division III, I think is really great for athletes at different levels who maybe don’t get exposed, particularly at the highest level, very often. So, it’s a really, really cool thing.”
Ohio Buckeye Blitz player/coach Madison Hyzdu also likes it for that reason.
“What I really like about it is that there are the three divisions. So then, my guys in between games, they can go watch a Division I team play,” Hyzdu says. “And it’s just a great opportunity to be able to meet more people, kind of network, but also learn from other teams. It’s also the energy, too, it’s fun. It’s exciting. And everybody shows up to have a good time, plus supporting veterans.”
Eighth-Annual Paralyzed Veterans of America Rugby Invitational At University of Louisville Student Recreation Center
Friday, Feb. 14
Division I
WWAR Generals 57, TIRR Texans 31
Texas Stampede 58, WWAR Warriors 33
WWAR Generals 60, Lakeshore Demolition 25
Texas Stampede 56, DASA St. Louis Bombers 40
Ability360 Heat 61, Lakeshore Demolition 45
University of Michigan 56, DASA St. Louis Bombers 41
Ability360 Heat 63, TIRR Texans 43
University of Michigan 53, WWAR Warriors 37
Division II
WASA/CKRI Lightning 54, Portland Pounders 43
BORP High Fives’ Storm 58, Boise Bombers 54
Las Vegas High Rollers 49, Magee Eagles 42
Portland Pounders 49, Boise Bombers 47
Magee Eagles 47, WASA/CKRI Lightning 46
Division III
NEP Wildcats 45, Kansas City Revolution 34
Oscar Mike Militia 56, Grand Rapids Thunder 18
Kansas City Revolution 53, Ohio Buckeye Blitz 49
NEP Wildcats 54, Grand Rapids Thunder 29
MedStar NRH United 67, Ohio Buckeye Blitz 24
MedStar NRH United 43, Oscar Mike Militia 45