Yesterday was a Test Match day down in Birmingham, Alabama. Our team set up a 3-country round robin test match series which included games against the GB and Kiwi national teams.  All teams are down in that city preparing for the Demolition Derby. We played all players on our roster, trying different lines and options, and were competitive with both teams but came up on the short side of the scoreboard, losing by about two goals per game.

Team Canada had our big hitter Mike Whitehead back for this event.  He had earlier played at the Coloplast International for his US-based team, the Hoveround Gunners.  The Gunners did better than their seeding, moving up to 5th from their seeded position of 6th place.

At the Coloplast International, where we placed 3rd, our team consisted of:

0.5 PARADIS, Daniel
1.0 BACON, Mike
1.0 HIRSCHFIELD, Trevor
1.0 PUBLICOVER, Gordon
1.5 SCHMÜTZ, Erika
1.5 SIMARD, Patrice (won the award for the Best 1.5 at the tournament)
2.0 LAROCQUE, Martin
2.0 LUANGKHAMDENG, Say
2.0 ROBINSON, Trevor
2.0 WILLSIE, David ©
3.0 CHAN, Ian © (won the award for the Best 3.0 at the tournament)
3.0 LAVOIE, Fabien
3.0 NORDING, Dale

while at the Demolition Derby, we will have the following program members suit up for the National Team:

0.5 PARADIS, Daniel
1.0 BACON, Mike
1.0 PUBLICOVER, Gordon
1.5 SCHMÜTZ, Erika
1.5 SIMARD, Patrice
2.0 LAROCQUE, Martin
2.0 LUANGKHAMDENG, Say
2.0 ROBINSON, Trevor
2.0 WILLSIE, David ©
3.0 CHAN, Ian ©
3.0 LAVOIE, Fabien
3.0 WHITEHEAD, Mike

Expectant father (for the second time) Jared Funk was not able to join us for this trip, nor was team co-captain Garett Hickling.  Deuces Trevor 'Crash' Robinson from Winnipeg and Say Luangkhamdeng from Surrey, BC, both from our National Squad, came in to fill out the rest of our team.

At the Coloplast tournament, the #5 seeded team earned top spot, to the surprise of many.  Tournament MVP Shinichi Shimakawa continues to shine, and is arguably the fastest wheelchair rugby player in the world.  Shin stars on the Japanese national team, which is ranked 8th in the world at this time, and on the Blitz, the #1 ranked team in Japan.

At the test match games, all national teams were stronger than they would be at either the Tampa or Birmingham tournaments, as all the foreign imports were able to play for their national teams during the test matches, rather than their US based teams.  With Whitey playing for Canada, the Kiwis had Gerry Tinker (2.0) and Dan Buckingham (3.0) back on the team, while the Brits were able to use Alan Ash (at his international PPS classification of 2.5 rather than his USQRA 2.0 class).  Buckingham makes the Lakeshore Demolition even stronger, while Tinker earned the import spot on defending USQRA national champion Texas Stampede.  Veteran Brit Alan Ash suits up for the Kentucky TNT, alongside veteran US national team member and perennial allstar at the 0.5 position, Eddie Crouch.

The competition should be somewhat more difficult, based on team rankings, at the Derby than at the Coloplast International.  Here is a comparison of the sets of opponents from those two events:

Coloplast Int - Team	IWRF Rank	USQRA Rank		Demolition Derby - Team	IWRF Rank	USQRA Rank
New Zealand	1	-		New Zealand	1	-
Canada	2	-		Canada	2	-
Great Britain	4	-		Great Britain	4	-
Texas Stampede	-	2		Lakeshore Demolition	-	1
Phoenix Heat	-	3		Texas Stampede	-	2
Hoveround Gunners	-	4		Phoenix Heat	-	3
Magee Eagles	-	9		Denver Harlequins	-	5
Tampa Generals	-	12		Kentucky TNT	-	10

In anticipation of the upcoming Demolition Derby tournament, which will feature it's toughest-ever set of competitors, here are a few links to articles on the subject:

- From the Lakeshore Foundation
- Another article from the Lakeshore site