For those of you looking for photos, a few more RSA vs NZL shots have been posted to the WWG info site, alongside some athletics and archery photos from the Games.  If you're here to check out results, I'll refer you to this page of our site instead: World Wheelchair Games results.

The two Canadian teams are gaining a lot of international experience and exposure to this level of competition, which is what we came here for.  Final results from pool play have our teams 3rd and 6th, both with positive +/- scores.

1. NZL Kea            6-0 ; 232-160 ; +72
2. United States    5-1 ; 250-187 ; +63
3. CAN Nordiques  4-2 ; 212-177 ; +35
4. NZL Kaka          3-3 ; 189-201 ; -12
5. Great Britain     2-4 ; 204-216 ; -12
6. CAN Ice             1-5 ; 192-187 ; +5
7. South Africa      0-6 ; 128-279 ; -151

Today's games sets up a re-match between the two North American powerhouses from the US and Canada, while the two Kiwi teams fight it out to become the top bird.  Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, GB, the Ice, and the big South Africans will pound each other to see which team comes out with 5th place honours.  The Ice lost 1-point games against Kaka and the Brits (sounds like a bad garage band name), and had a very respectable game against the #2 Americans, but those losses put them on the unfriendly side of the tableau, as only the top-4 teams have a chance to win the whole thing.

The 2nd day results are now posted on our web site, and the Nordiques are still undefeated.  A touch of rugby info is now appearing on the WWG results site, with a photo from what appears to be the South Africa vs. New Zealand Kea game from the 2nd day of competition, Thursday, October 30th.

Amongst the results from today's games were two inter-country games, which established New Zealand Kea and Canada Nordiques as the two strongest teams from their respective countries.  Both of these teams are now 4-0, with two more games remaining to be played for each team.  The Ice had a narrow 1-point loss against GB, but I have not received any game details for this one quite yet.

Speaking of standings, here is what it looks like after each team has played four games.

1. NZL Kea            4-0 ; 162-102 ; +60
2. CAN Nordiques  4-0 ; 143-100 ; +43
3. United States    3-1 ; 173-115 ; +58
4. CAN Ice             1-3 ; 131-117 ; +14
5. Great Britain     1-3 ; 123-155 ; -32
6. NZL Kaka           1-3 ; 117-151 ; -34
7. South Africa       0-4 ; 66-175 ; -109

Tomorrow's games will be tough for both Canadian teams, with both the Ice and the Nordiques facing New Zealand Kea and the United States.

Some info from the organizers of the World Wheelchair Games can be accessed from this page of their site, which will hopefully soon feature some game photos which include wheelchair rugby, now that the first day of rugby competition has been completed.  You can also get results from the first three days of competition in other sports, including athletics and table tennis.

Full results, team rosters, and the upcoming game schedule is all available for you on the CWSA web site.

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Hello Canada,

We just finished our first day of competition at the World Wheelchair Games.  Everyone is healthy and the first day was 75% successful for Team(s) Canada.

In first game action, the Canada Ice met the New Zealand Kaka (it’s a bird).  The Ice roster includes Mike Whitehead (London, ON), Fabien Lavoie (Quebec City, QC), Steven Dunn (Halifax, NS), Sue McRae (London, ON), Trevor Robinson (Winnipeg, MB), Patrice Simard (Quebec City, QC) and Daniel Paradis (Quebec City, QC).

Those of us who played the Kiwis at the New Zealand Nationals knew that we were in for a fight.  And a fight it was as Canada had to battle back from, at one point, a five-goal deficit.  If you read the Road Journal action from October 17th, you’ll get a good idea of the problems we experienced in this game.  That said, this team of predominantly younger players showed a lot of heart and skill in the second half as they tied the game at one point and kept it close to the end.  The final score was Kaka 33 – Canada Ice 32.

In the second game of the day, the Nordiques du Canada also played the Kaka.  Poor Kaka!  Back to back games are never easy, but when you have to play the Nordiques on the second side of a back to back… well, it won’t be pretty.  Garett Hickling (Vancouver, BC), Ian Chan (Vancouver, BC), David Willsie (London, ON), Allan Semeniuk (Saskatoon, SK), Allan Chartrand (Edmonton, AB), Mike Bacon (Saskatoon, SK) and Jared Funk (Winnipeg, MB) took an early lead and added to that lead throughout the game.  They finished the fourth quarter with a 33 – 26 victory over the Kiwis.

After a break for lunch, the Nordiques took on the Brits.  Again the Nordiques took an early lead with what appeared to be a dramatically weaker GB squad here in Christchurch.  However, after a few minutes of play, they unleashed their new secret weapon, a 3.5 that looks a lot like former player Jon Lilley.  In spite of the secret weapon, the Nordiques wheeled to an easy win with a score of 38 – 30.

In the final game of the day, the Ice met, for the first time, the National Team from South Africa.  After the initial 4 minutes of play, Canada did not field a full 8.0 line-up for the remainder of the game.  South Africa is experiencing teams outside the Oceania Zone for the first time at this competition and they are learning.  It was a tough lesson as Canada posted a 35-12 score in the win column.

Sue McRae, Trevor Robinson, Patrice Simard and Daniel Paradis played a good portion of the game, totaling only 6.0 points on the floor.  Speaking of Sue McRae, we had a real David and Goliath story in the making today.  Sue took on, several times, a South African who had to outweigh her by 200lbs.  Her continuous challenge of this “giant” had him commenting to Sue, on court, “you’re crazy!”  But we know Sue.  She’s not crazy, just competitive and extremely stubborn.

Sally Thomas, our Canadian Powerlifter, and her Coach and our President, Donald Royer, spent the day at the gym supporting our teams.  Sally and Donald will be off to their competition tomorrow.  Hey Canada, send your support Sally’s way as she strives to qualify for Athens.

We have four more games tomorrow.  Send us your lucky vibes!

— Cathy Cadieux —

Here is a guest commentary from Canadian Wheelchair Rugby National Team athlete, Mike Whitehead, from London, Ontario:

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Hello From Christchurch, New Zealand.

After a long day of flying we made it here safely and with all of our equipment.  It has taken a couple of days to get used to the time difference, as Eastern Standard Time is 17 hours behind us — nothing a couple of great naps can' t fix.  Christchurch is a city of about 300,000 and is beautiful.  It is Spring time here and the trees are budding and the All Blacks are playing in the World Cup of Rugby.  Everyone is excited about their team and it seems the local television has 24-hour coverage of rugby.  The weather is hit or miss.  Before we got here they had three days in a row of mid 20's but the temp has dropped a little since we arrived.

Our first day of competition is Wednesday and we are playing two games a day on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  Saturday, hopefully, we will be playing the other Canadian team "the Nordiques" in the finals.  There will be some stiff competition here with the US, Great Britain and New Zealand, who all have solid teams.  There is a web site where you can follow the daily events of the tournament — check it out: www.nz2003.blogspot.com

Kerri and I are excited about traveling around the south island of New Zealand for a week starting Sunday.  Until then it's all rugby baby......

We will take lots of pictures..... So long from down under mate!

— Mikey —

It's waaaaay too dark for 7am, but that's how it goes in these early days of Daylight Savings Time here in Canada.  Outside, it is All Black, which leads me to think of the 'Wheel Blacks' who are on course to collide with our Canucks in Christchurch in just a few short days. 

If I can just get my fingers working again after competing in another rain-soaked tournament yesterday, I'll get around to posting Cathy Cadieux's latest report from the field.  I had a decent result, so I suppose that playing in a tropical depression actually was good for something after all!

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Hello Players, Fans, Friends and Family,

It was a good day for Canada's team.  Although we missed the opening ceremonies, we had a great four-hour practice that really got the team off to a good start.  We have another two-hour practice tomorrow (a light practice) before we begin competition at 10:00am on Wednesday morning.

Cathy was able to kick off practice with the team before setting up for the IWRF Annual Assembly which included our hardworking IWRF Executive Committee members Judy, Eron, Tony and Cathy, along with Marco and CWSA President, Donald Royer.  While long, the IWRF meeting was very productive.

While laborious, we repeated the same kind of process here that we did in Canada, in terms of investing a significant amount of time debating the rules changes proposed here.  While not all changes reflected Canada's opinion, the debate was very positive.

The best news, although the Kiwis and Aussies say we'll live to regret it, is NO changes to the rod/tubing size for bumpers.  Our friends from "down under" tell us that they're spending a fortune on blown tires, as a result of the narrow tube size.  We'll see how it goes.

We'll have more news on the rules amendments when we return to Canada, so stay tuned to the web site for updates.

I'll be sending scores, news and quotes from your players, to Don at the office,
everyday.  He's doing a GREAT job of fast postings to the site to keep you informed.  Thanks Don.

More tomorrow Canada!

'Frustration' was the 'F' word of choice for the Canadians in Christchurch today. 
That, and finding words that rhyme with 'SNAFU', or reciting Murphy's Laws by heart.  Here are a few basic ones which I'm sure were thrown out by our Canucks in Kiwiland:

1. Nothing is as easy as it looks.
   
2. Everything takes longer than you think.
   
3. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
   
4. If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.  Corollary: If there is a worse time for something to go wrong, it will happen then.
   
5. If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway.
   

With that as a lead-in piece, I'll sign off now, and give you Cathy's latest Christchurch Chronicle, and leave with with this thought about today's time change: Daylight savings time — why are they saving it and where do they keep it?

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Hello Canada,

Well, it's been a hectic couple of days.  A few organizational problems are creating havoc with the team schedule.  Transportation difficulties were the order of the day, as EVERYTHING was delayed, including transport to classification for nine of our fourteen Canadian athletes.

In addition to that, Canada Rugby will be absent from the Opening Ceremonies tomorrow, which will be a big disappointment for our Flag Bearer, Mr. Allan Semeniuk of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.  Initially, the organizing committee here had booked a 10:00am to 2:00pm training time for Canada tomorrow.  The only problem with that is that the Opening Ceremonies are scheduled from 10:45am to 12:00pm tomorrow.  A bit of a glitch organizationally, I'd say.  We HAD found a solution when we had requested a change in training times with South Africa, which their Team Manager approved earlier today.  Later tonight, however, South Africa discovered a scheduling conflict which "nixed the switch."  With only four hours training scheduled for tomorrow and two on Tuesday, clearly training has to be the priority.

So, Canada will be represented by our Powerlifter, Sally Thomas, and Canadian Fencer
Sylvie Morel.  Coaches Donald Royer and Carlo Grillo will join our athletes.

Meetings started today with the IWRF Executive Committee.  Joining the EC for a brief discussion today were Phil Craven, President of the IPC, Paul DePace, President of the ISMWSF, and Maura Strange, Executive Director of the ISMWSF.

Meetings continue tomorrow with the IWRF Annual General Assembly.

That's all today from WWG 2003!

During our off-days in between tournaments, rugby is still going on in our host city.  New Zealand and their down under neighbours, the Aussies, have been battling for the Chris Handy Cup, which is symbolic of rugby dominance in the Oceania Zone.  The Kiwis won the 2002 event last season, stopping the Aussie streak at three straight Chris Handy Cup wins.  I'm glad I sent down a few extra video tapes with the new camcorder, since I expect the coaching staff would want to have a permanent record of the two Oceanic powers, as the Aussies will not be participating in the World Wheelchair Games, and the Kiwis will soon be split into two squads.

Many thanks to those of you who are commenting right here in the Road Journal.  Feedback is golden!

Meanwhile, my computer tells me in it's own endearing but slightly hopped-on-cappucino electronic voice.... «You've got mail!» and although it's not from Meg Ryan, I thought I'd share it with you:

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Hello Canada,

Well, we’re all here!  The rest of Team Canada arrived yesterday, to the first day of rain we’ve had since we arrived in New Zealand.  It was a good trip for everyone, by all accounts, even the youngest members of Team Canada, MacKenzie Funk and Noah Doré.

After a day of touring around the Christchurch City Centre, the team convened for their first meeting, before retiring for the night.  All the messages sent from our friends in Canada and the U.S., including Dodie Willsie, Lorrie Hoium, Barb Montemurro, Bill Bouffard, Dan McCluskey and Daryl and Laurie Stubel, were conveyed to the team.  These messages are terrific for the team and they really appreciate the support.  Thanks team members and Fans!

Today dawned much brighter, although cool, in the land down under.  Everyone was out and about, with Coaches Soares and Labrecque and High Performance Coordinator, Marco Dispaltro heading back to Cowles Stadium to watch the Aussies and Kiwis in the final day of competition in the Chris Handy Cup.  The Kiwis took both games today, capturing the 2003 Chris Handy Cup title.

Opening Ceremonies will take place on Monday at 11:00.  The Flag Bearer for Canada will be selected tomorrow and announced in tomorrow’s Road Journal.

Nine athletes who have yet to achieve PPS Classification ["Permanent Paralympic Status"] status head to Pioneer Stadium tomorrow for classification. Marco, Joe, Benoit and Stephan will accompany the team, who are the first team up for a superb classification team assembled here in Christchurch.  This panel includes our own Level 4 classifier, Emilie Newell, with Jennifer Stodler entering the final phase of her Level 3 training at this event.

Meetings start tomorrow for Cathy, Judy, Eron and Tony.  The IWRF Executive Committee Meeting takes place tomorrow, with the IWRF 2003 Annual Assembly taking place on Monday from 13:00 to 19:00.  Following that Donald and Cathy will be representing Canada at the 2003 ISMWSF Annual Assembly.

More tomorrow, so stay tuned!

The upcoming World Wheelchair Games will feature seven teams from five different countries.  None of these teams are considered to be 'national' teams, which means that the results of this international competition will not affect the IWRF rankings, which are currently:

1.    CANADA
2.   United States
3.   Australia (winner of the recent Oceania Zone Championships)
4.   Great Britain (winner of the March-2003 European Zone Championships)
5.   Belgium (4th at the 2002 World Championships)
6.   New Zealand (3rd at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics)
7.    Germany
8.   Japan
9.   Denmark (4th at the 2003 European Zone Championships)
10. Sweden (5th at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics)
11. The Netherlands
12. Switzerland
13. Austria
14. Finland
15. Poland
16. Ireland
17. Norway
18. South Africa (welcome back to international competition!)
19. Czech Republic

In addition to the rugby athletes who are attending the World Wheelchair Games, Canada is represented by athletes in two other sports: powerlifting and fencing.  Ottawa's Sally Thomas will compete in the -40 kg women's division, and Sylvie Morel, from the Montreal area, will be fencing épée.  Thomas placed 4th at the 2002 World Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, while Morel is currently ranked 16th in Women's Category "A" Épée.

More info on wheelchair fencing is available on my fencing club's web site, or you can check out the IWFC's web site, although mine comes out as #1 on the Google search list for "wheelchair fencing".

Hello Canada,

It was a busy final day of R&R for Canada's team on Thursday here in Christchurch.  The Queenstown Three, Fabien, Patrice and Steven, were still on their excellent adventure on the south end of the Island. Here is a shot from the recent Canada Avalanche vs. Canterbury game, with Steven temporarily trapped between Tim Johnson (#7) and Bill Oughton (#9).

The rest of the troops took a trip to Hanmer Springs, with a little jet-boating thrown in for good measure.  The jet-boating was a real adventure, especially for our motion-sensitive Marco.  But like a real Canadian, he did not lose his composure.  However, his coiffure was done a little damage.  Everyone had a great time and then headed to the Springs for a little time in the thermal pools.

On the return trip, Daniel Paradis decided it was time to treat our tour guide to a few French songs.  Well, who knew?  I think we'll book Daniel and crew on the Letterman Show.  Could be a good fundraiser.  However, the songs MUST be in French.  Translation just couldn't do it justice.

We enjoyed a great pasta dinner tonight and Mr. Bacon explained the "virtues" of an old strategy called the "revolving defense."  You old guys will remember that with fondness, I'm sure.

We packed up tonight and are headed to our WWG hotel tomorrow morning, where we'll meet the rest of the team.  We can't wait to see them.

More tomorrow from the World Wheelchair Games!

Although not completly finished, info on the wheelchair rugby results at the World Wheelchair Games will be posted to this page of the CWSA web site.  It contains team listings for the seven teams involved, and the game schedule.

Here is another shot by Benoit Labrecque, showing #11 Fabien Lavoie and #1 Daniel Paradis working on stopping Canterbury's
Tim Johnson (in front of Fabien), who is being helped out by #6 Gerry Tinker.

I'm awaiting to hear back from a few sources as to the breakdown in the team composition for the two New Zealand teams, the KAKA and the KEA, as well as for the coaching and support staff on the various teams.  For your information, "Kakas" and "Keas" are both birds that are native to this scenic Kiwi soil.

The ever-present Air Canada last-minute changes bug has afflicted us again, with eight people in our group (D. Royer, T. Lapolla, G. Brière, J. Zelman, E. Main, S. Thomas, E. Newell, and B. McLennan) forced to change their plans at the last moment and rush in to Toronto on earlier flights.  Our original Toronto — Los Angeles flight has been cancelled for reasons unknown.  All has now been re-arranged, thanks to our ever-trusty travel agent, Monica Voigt, from Carlson-Wagonlit Travel.  She rocks!

With that emergency handled this morning, here is Cathy's latest chronicle from Christchurch:

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Hello Canada,

The NZ Nationals team has made good use of their time off between tournaments.  Today, Manager and Medical headed off to Arthur's Pass on the TranzRail Adventure.  On a BEAUTIFUL, sunny New Zealand day, we saw some of the most beautiful geography in the World.  Spectacular snow-capped mountains, rushing glacier fed rivers and a wild jet boat ride on the Waimekiriri River was topped off with hands-on sheep shearing and a herding demonstration by some very talented canines.

Back in Christchurch, Dave, Mike, Daniel, Stephan, Benoit and Marco had a quiet day, sunning themselves in this glorious springtime weather.  Sue did a little sunning and added a little trip to the local mall.  Sue took the tour guide reins today and organized a trip to Hanmer Springs tomorrow for all but the Queenstown Three (Steven, Patrice and Fabien).  We'll do a little thermal springs warm up, some more jet boating and again enjoy this beautiful country.

Good thoughts from all of us here, to all of you catching flights today/yesterday/tomorrow.... whatever.  We're anxious to see you all.

Good night from New Zealand.

You asked for it — you got it — here is another Christchurch Chronicle from Cathy Cadieux:

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Hello Canada,

Well, it’s the second day of our break here in New Zealand, before the rest of the team arrives this Friday.  Three members of our small group have gone off to Queenstown for two days.  The rest have stayed in Christchurch and are touring the city OR, in the case of Sue McRae, Mike Bacon and Cathy Cadieux, trying to recover from the “Maine Plague.”

It seems that all our players who attended the Bash at the Bay tournament the weekend prior to our departure, came in contact with a wicked cold/flu.  Two of the players who arrived with the bug, have recovered, but the rest of us just came down with it yesterday.  So, on this beautiful, sunny, Spring day, we are quietly resting up with a nice breeze blowing through the curtains of our sliding doors.  There are definitely worse places to be with a cold.

However, we are ALL planning a trip to Hanmer Springs tomorrow.  It’s supposed to be a lovely place where we’ll go jet-boating and then climb into the thermal pools for a nice relaxing spa.  Of course Marco (you can always count on Marco) said perhaps we should avoid the “healing” powers of the spa as they might make all of our players ineligible for rugby.  Thanks Marco!

Hey Canada, don’t forget to send your warm thoughts to the team at ccadieux@cwsa.ca or by replying in the comments section of the Road Journal.  I know the guys would love to see messages from home, throughout our stay here, and I’ll make sure they get those messages.

I’ll send more tomorrow, after our Hanmer Springs Adventure!

Cathy

For those of you traveling to New Zealand within the next few days to attend or participate in the World Wheelchair Games should take note of the Air New Zealand flight restrictions of carry-on baggage for the domestic part of your trip.  Their weight & size restrictions are lighter and smaller than what you would be accustomed to when flying throughout North America, so if you've had warnings before for your typical carry-on bag domestically, then lighten it up considerably before (at least) the final leg of your upcoming trip to Christchurch.

Good morning!  Glad you could join us today, since we have the third Christchurch Chronicle in from CWSA Executive Director, Cathy Cadieux.  The six-team, three-country New Zealand Wheelchair Rugby National Championships is now over, and the group has a four day break prior to the more important competition at the World Wheelchair Games.  Most of the remaining Canadians will leave Canada on Wednesday, and join our advance group, who will be able to act as 'local experts' to the new arrivals.  Anyways, here is Cathy's report:

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Hello Canada,

It's a bronze medal for Canada at the 2003 New Zealand National Championships.  Canterbury took the top spot and the Gold medal and Australia came away with a silver!

After a disappointing performance by the Avalanche in their semi-final against the strong Canterbury team, Canada delivered a superb game against Auckland with a controlled and disciplined performance with only 7.0 and 7.5 lineups.  With Mike Bacon sidelined temporarily, Canada went with the 3.0/2.0/1.5/0.5 or the 3.0/2.0/2.0/0.5 lineup.  It was great to see our team finish the tournament with such a strong performance.  Game scores posted were a 39-31 loss against Canterbury and a 46-35 victory over Auckland.

In the All Tournament Team department, Canada's low-pointers ruled.  The best 0.5 in the world, Daniel Paradis, took the best 0.5 spot and was joined by Patrice Simard who won the best 1.5 category.

At the tournament banquet, Captain David Willsie offered some gifts of thanks to our
hosts and tournament organizers Bill Oughton and Tim Johnson.  Bill, his wife Michelle and their young twins Jack and Pete, were great hosts and went out of their way for our team.  Tim organized transportation and anyone who's been in charge of that aspect of a tournament can sympathize.  Just ask Duncan Campbell.

We got some great experience this weekend for our young 3.0s and our new 2.0.  It was a very successful development opportunity for Canada and a good reminder of just how good these Kiwi's are.  Their performance in Sweden certainly didn't reflect their talent, as Canada knows from past experience.

We're now headed into four days off and planning some touring and general R&R, with a little laundry thrown in for good measure.

More later from "The Garden City."

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If you have any questions or comments for the Canadians in Kiwiland, please post them up in the comment box, and I'll get the answers for you and post them here on the Rugby Road Journal.

~Don~

Please note that there has been a change in address for the Rugby Road Journal.

Please update your saved setting for this site to the following:

http://nz2003.blogspot.com

Thank you.

Here is another Christchurch Chronicle, coming from Cathy Cadieux:

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Good morning Canada,

It was a long day of competition for the Canada Avalanche at the 2003 New Zealand
National Championships.  With games at 11:00am, 3:00pm and 5:45pm, it was a tired group of athletes that arrived back at the Garden Hotel at around 7:15pm.  It should be a good night's sleep for everyone.

It wasn't a great day on court today with the Team losing two out of three games.  In the first game of the day against the number one team at the tournament, Canterbury, the team came out flat and again made a number of unforced errors, from which they could not recover.  The experienced, controlled Canterbury team that included Dan Buckingham, Tim Johnson, Gerry Tinker and Bill Oughton outclassed the Canadians in the first half of the game.  The Avalanche posted a much better result in the second half, but the damage was done and the game ended with a 46-37 loss.

It second game action, a combination of questionable calls and a couple of unforced errors left the Canadian team one goal short at the end of the fourth quarter in the game against Auckland.  With a five goal deficit at the end of the third quarter, the team showed determination and a lot of heart in the fourth quarter, tieing the game with a minute, 24 seconds to go.  With possession, the Kiwis drew a foul, which effectively ended the game at 36-35.

In the final game of the day, Canada took out their frustrations on the unsuspecting
Waikato team.  This was a much better game for Coach Labrecque and company, with the physical conditioning of the Canadian squad apparent.  The Avalanche buried Waikato with speed and endurance.  The game finished at 49-32 for Canada.

Canada faces a rematch with Canterbury tomorrow morning at 11:30am.  If the team plays to its potential, it should be a very tight match and could go either way.

More tomorrow from sunny Christchurch!

Three games are scheduled for Saturday, or “Friday” as we call it over here in North America.  The draw has us up first against a strong Canterbury team, led by 3.0 Dan Buckingham.  That 10:30 game is followed by a game at 15:00 match against the Auckland blokes that features 2.5 Curtis Palmer, and the Waikato trio of 2.5s at 17:45 after a quick dinner at 17:00.

The photo to the left (in the very dark gym) shows the beginning of a breakaway goal by 'The Dude', our 1.5, #15, Mr. Patrice Simard of Quebec City.

Suiting up first against the Red and White Avalanche team is the experienced Canterbury team:

0.5 Tolu Tuilagi
0.5 Brad Hayward
0.5 Steve Guthrie
0.5 Sam Bennett
1.0 Bill Oughton (thanks for the upcoming t-shirt, Bill!)
1.0 Andy Chittock
1.5 Steve Hannen
2.0 Gerry Tinker
2.0 Tim Johnson
2.0 Riki Foulsham
3.0 Dan Buckingham
Staff - Nick Johnson
Staff - Debbie Mitchell

The 3pm match against Team Auckland has our guys up against:

0.5 Steve Nimmo
1.0 Jai Waite
1.0 Grant Sharman
2.0 Gary McMurray
2.0 Kevin Kernoske
2.5 Curtis Palmer

The photo to the right is from the Canada Avalanche vs Manawatu game, and shows a give and go between a couple of Avalanche 3.0's, Fabien Lavoie from Quebec City and Steven Dunn from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.  Sholto Taylor from Manawatu, and the Kiwi National Team is the tall guy to the left of Fabien.

Our final opponents on Saturday are from Waikato.  Their team consists of:

0.5 George Nepata
1.0 Ross Ormsby
1.5 David Klinkhammer
2.0 Chris Harvey
2.5 Will Groulx (from Portland, OR, USA) (article on him from the USQRA web site)
2.5 Dougal Scott
2.5 Peter Martin

I'll post the game summaries when I receive them.

~That is all~

Here is the first message directly from New Zealand, exclusive to the Rugby Road Journal!

Hello Canada,

After our arrival in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Wednesday, October 15th, the Canada Avalanche had a day off before the start of competition at the New Zealand National Championships on Friday, October 17th.

The team, which includes Fabien Lavoie, Steven Dunn, David Willsie, Sue McRae, Patrice Simard, Mike Bacon and Daniel Paradis, Coach Benoit Labrecque, Stephan Charbonneau, Jennifer Cadieux and Cathy Cadieux took a trip to the scenic fishing village of Akaroa on Thursday and enjoyed a harbour cruise.  With the athletes perched on the back of the Canterbury Cat, we cruised by the spectacular landscape in the green/blue water of the South Pacific.   With small blue penguins, amazing birds (including Canada Geese if you can believe it) and the world's smallest (and shyest) dolphins just a few feet away from the boat, it was a great experience for all.

Akaroa is only a mere 85 kilometres from Christchurch, and is an historic French and British settlement nestled in the heart of an ancient volcano.  It was founded by the French and with so many of our Québec athletes competing here, it seemed fitting to see so many French names in the small village.  The picture of Coach Benoit Labrecque standing under the street sign for Rue Benoit, in this tiny village in New Zealand is on the site for all to see.  What a treat!

The Canada Avalanche faced their first competitors in New Zealand today, with two games.  The team posted a disappointing result in their first outing against Australia with a 34-28 loss against the Aussies.  "Unforced errors were the problem for the Avalanche" said Coach Labrecque, as he made it clear to this small squad that "Australia didn't win this game, we lost it."

The team posted a much better result in the second game of the day, as the players settled down and got to work.  The tone was set early by the Canadians, with a controlled, agressive first quarter.  The New Zealand Manawatu were no match for the Avalanche with a final score of 46-31.

With three games scheduled for tomorrow, it will be a busy day for the Avalanche.  Send us your good thoughts or e-mails at Cathy Cadieux, which will be passed along to the players.

We'll keep you posted!

Interested in traveling to new places and sharing the game of wheelchair rugby with future players?

The International Wheelchair Rugby Federation (IWRF) Americas Zone is looking for interested athletes, coaches, classifiers and referees for a demonstration event and clinic to be held at the Para Pan American Games.

The Para Pan American Games will be held in Mar del Plata, Argentina this December 3rd to the 10th.  Approximately 23 countries from the region will be participating in other sports and will be available for wheelchair rugby demonstrations and clinics.

The preferred plan to demonstrate wheelchair rugby would be to send eight players, two coaches, a referee and a classifier to the games.  This would allow competitive demonstration games to be played and clinic sessions.  The referee and classifier would also hold training sessions for interested personnel.

The hosts are definitely interested in having wheelchair rugby as a demonstration sport but their funding is limited.  The IWRF, Canadian Wheelchair Sports and the USQRA are committed to sponsoring this event to an extent to which they are capable but unfortunately the athletes and staff would have to pay some of their own expenses.

The present plan is to see if there are interested US and Canadian players/staff who could fund part of their own expenses.  The exact cost and days of the trip are not known at this time.  Knowledge of Spanish and/or Portuguese would be an asset but is not required.

Please reply to me if you are interested in this opportunity.

Don Lane
Secretary,
IWRF Americas Zone

on behalf of Dan McCauley,
IWRF Americas Zone President

Our Assistant National Coach, Benoit Labrecque, brought down an advance team to play in the New Zealand Wheelchair Rugby National Championships. Among the teams our 'Canada Avalanche' development team will be facing are teams from Auckland, Canterbury, Manawatu, and Waikato, as well as a small Aussie development team.  The folks from the Land of Oz came out on top last month at the 2003 Oceania Zonal Championships, which really did happen in September 2003 (Terry - you may want to change the header and dates on that file on your site...), although they only squeaked by the Kiwis by 1 goal in the final game, and lost to them in their opening match.

Our first game starts on Friday, October 17th, against the Aussies. Sporting the kangaroo colours this time are:

0.5 Nazim Erdim
1.5 Scott Vitale
2.0 Brett Boylan
2.0 Bryce Alman
2.5 Patrick Ryan
2.5 Ryley Batt
Coach - Terry Vinyard
Assistant Coach - Cherie Harris
Staff - Marie Spiller

Those athletes listed in bold print above and below were players on their countries National Teams at the 2002 World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Our next opponents on Friday are from Manawatu, which is one of 16 regions of the country.  Scenic New Zealand is about the size of the American state of Colorado.  The Manawatu team consists of:

0.5 Chris Moore
1.0 Phil Spring
2.0 Pat Edmonds
2.5 Sholto Taylor
2.5 Jeff Merwood
2.5 Grant Boxall
Staff - Dyanne Parish

Our development team, Canada Avalanche, consists of:

0.5 Daniel Paradis
1.0 Mike Bacon
1.5 Patrice Simard
2.0 David Willsie
2.0 Susan McRae
3.0 Fabien Lavoie
3.0 Steven Dunn
Coach - Benoit Labrecque
Equipment - Stephan Charbonneau
Medical - Jennifer Cadieux
Team Leader - Cathy Cadieux

In other news, our president, Dr. Donald Royer, has been awarded a prestigious honour, The Paralympic Order, by the International Paralympic Committee for his long-lasting contributions to the Paralympic movement.  A presentation will be made to Dr. Royer at the next IPC General Assembly, in November, in Torino, Italy.  This is a significant honour – congratulations Donald!

In further good news, David Willsie, the co-captain of the Canadian National Wheelchair Rugby Team, is a finalist for the Ontario Male Athlete of the Year Award.  The winner of this, and the other Ontario Sport Awards, will be announced at the 36th annual Ontario Sport Awards Ceremony on October 24, 2003 at the Hilton Suites Toronto/Markham Conference Centre & Spa.

In anticipation of the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games, the Canadian Paralympic Committee has announced the launch of the Athens 2004 Spectator Program.  Executive Worldwide Travel (EWT) will coordinate this program to Canadian Paralympic Friends and Family, and will include Event Ticketing, Accommodation and Travel coordination.  Please follow the CPC logo on the EWT web site for more information.

*... stretching long unused fingers... *

Well, it has been a while since the last chapter in this tale has been crafted, but given that many of our national team program athletes are once again on the road down under, it's probably a good time to start up the Rugby Road Journal again.

My anonymity has been shot through the wall, since I made an appearance where our southerly neighbours (yes, with a "u"... Bill Gates' spell checking program can't stop me now) were in the house.  No longer the, what was it, 'Unknown Comic' as Billy B put it, I've now got a face.  Oh well, the Maine guys are honourary Canadians with the weather they have to put up with, so it's all good.

Full results of the successful Québec Rendez-Vous and Steel Wheels Quad Rugby Tournament can be found on the CWSA web site.  The Navigators (not to be confused with the gators who dwell all over South Florida) held their own tournament last weekend with some significant Canadian-content, besides our own Mike Whitehead, who anchors their offense.  The "Mainiacs" as they are affectionately called, placed 2nd to the Québec Impact, and ahead of the London Annihilators, who took the #3 spot in this 4 team tournament.