Wheelchair rugby words · Intermediate

The words that make the commentary make sense. They build on the beginner words.

I · Intermediate · 54 words · Step 2 of 2

General terms

World Wheelchair Rugby

The world governing body of wheelchair rugby, which publishes the international rules. The classification rules of 2021 still carry the older name International Wheelchair Rugby Federation (IWRF).

Also called: WWR
See also: Wheelchair rugby

The ruleWhat are the rules of wheelchair rugby?

Team and players on court

A team has up to twelve members, with no more than four on court at one time. Players serving penalties count as being on court, and members not on court are substitutes.

The court and ball

Court (wheelchair rugby)

An indoor court 15 m wide and 28 m long, with a centreline 14 m from each end line and a centre circle of 1.8 m radius. The boundary lines are out of bounds.

Key area

The area at each end of the court, centred between the sidelines, 8 m wide and 1.75 m long, marked by two lines perpendicular to the end line joined by a line parallel to it. The lines are part of the key area.

Try line and posts

The try line is the part of the end line within the key area. Its ends are marked by posts at least 45 cm and at most 80 cm high, with square bases, standing out of bounds. The try lines and posts are out of bounds.

Backcourt and frontcourt (wheelchair rugby)

A team's backcourt is the area from the end line it defends, including its try line, up to and including the centreline, and its frontcourt is from the centreline to the opponents' end line. The centreline belongs to each team's backcourt.

Penalty box

The two boxes marked on the side of the court opposite the scoring table, one on each side of the centreline, each assigned to the team whose bench is opposite. A penalised player waits there for the length of the penalty, including during stoppages and time-outs, and no more than two players of a team may serve at once.

Ball (wheelchair rugby)

A WWR approved ball inflated to at least 7.5 pounds of pressure, which Referee 1 judges. It may be passed, rolled, batted, tapped, dribbled, bounced or carried on the lap, but not kicked or struck with the leg below the knee. On the lap at least 75 per cent of it must be visible.

Classification

Excessive points technical foul

A technical foul charged to the bench when the players on court, including the penalty box, exceed the point limit. The coach picks a player to serve it and a substitution corrects the line-up. A coach may ask for a point count of the other team, and is charged with the foul if the count shows the team is legal.

Eligible impairments (wheelchair rugby)

Impairments that alter wheelchair propulsion and ball handling in a verifiable way and adversely affect them. The minimum criteria consist of measures of motor power in the upper limbs, trunk and lower limbs, limb length, coordination impairment and passive range of movement.

Minimum impairment criteria (wheelchair rugby)

An athlete must meet the criteria for an eligible impairment, such as motor power, to be eligible. Several impairments that are each below the minimum cannot be added together, which the rules call multiple subminimal impairment, and a non-eligible impairment cannot be considered for eligibility, though it can move an athlete to a more impaired class.

Assessments (wheelchair rugby)

After the physical assessment, which measures the minimum impairment criteria, the technical assessment allocates the sport class in a controlled non-competitive setting, and an observation assessment during competition confirms it.

Wheelchair and equipment

Bumper

A bar projecting from the front of the chair, also called a pick bar. Its front-most part must be 11 cm from the floor, at least 20 cm wide and no more than 20 cm beyond the caster housings, with its lowest point at least 3 cm and highest no more than 20 cm above the floor, and be of rounded rod or tube.

Wings

Optional rods on either side of the chair between the front and the main wheels, whose outermost contact point must be 11 cm from the floor, lowest point at least 3 cm and highest point no more than 20 cm above the floor. A wing may not extend beyond the centre of the main wheel's tyre.

Anti-tip device (wheelchair rugby)

A device fitted at the rear with two wheels at least 40 cm apart, which must not project behind the rearmost point of the main wheels and must have its bottom no more than 2 cm above the floor. Spring-loaded anti-tips are prohibited, and opponents may not exploit them to gain an advantage.

Ball holder

A rigid, padded device that supports the ball, touching no more than the bottom 25 per cent of it and leaving 75 per cent visible. It must not give a mechanical advantage, so it may not be spring loaded or pressure fit the ball, and a closed shape must measure no more than 14 cm inside.

Cushion, strapping and padding

One seat cushion up to 10 cm thick is allowed, with padding between the knees that does not rise above them. A player may be strapped to the chair, and a strap must stop the feet slipping off the footrest. Counterweights, steering devices, brakes, gears and pushing handles are not allowed, and protrusions must be padded.

Uniform numbers (wheelchair rugby)

Tops carry a number between 1 and 15, 20 and 25, 30 and 35, 40 and 45, or 50 and 55 on the front and back, different for each player on a team. Any form of hand protection is allowed provided it is not hard or rough.

Play and timing

Playing time (wheelchair rugby)

Four periods of 8 minutes, with a 3 minute interval after the first and third periods and a 10 minute interval after the second. Overtime periods are 3 minutes each, after a 3 minute interval and then 2 minute intervals. The game clock stops when a try is scored and at every whistle.

Tip-off

The game starts, and each overtime, with a tip-off in the centre circle between one player from each team, called centres, each on the side of the centreline of the try line they defend. The referee tosses the ball above reach, and a centre must touch it before it hits the floor. A centre may use only the backrest to keep balance.

Alternating possession (wheelchair rugby)

Teams take turns having the ball at the start of the second, third and fourth periods and after each held ball, shown by a directional arrow. The team that did not gain the ball in the tip-off gets the first alternating possession.

Throw-in (wheelchair rugby)

How play restarts after a try, violation, foul, time-out or other stoppage. The in-bounder is out of bounds, the referee places the ball on their lap and whistles, and the ball must be released and touched by a player on court within 8 seconds. After a try the throw-in is from any point on the end line, and after most other stoppages from the sideline nearest where it happened.

Held ball (wheelchair rugby)

Two opponents have possession at the same time, they both send the ball out of bounds, or the ball is stuck between opposing wheelchairs or trapped under a chair. The team next in the alternating possession gets a throw-in.

Possession and dribbling (wheelchair rugby)

A player has possession when holding the ball in the hands or secured on the lap or against the body or chair off the floor, with hands firmly on it, or when given it for a throw-in. There is no limit to the pushes or pivots between dribbles, but a dribble must be a positive act of pushing or dropping the ball to the floor.

Substitution (wheelchair rugby)

Either team may substitute any number of players after a stoppage, but not straight after a try unless there is another stoppage. Substitutes report to the substitution area and may not come directly from the bench, and no one may replace a player serving a penalty.

Time-outs (wheelchair rugby)

Each team has three 60 second time-outs per half, with unused ones not carried over, and one per overtime period. Only the coach or assistant coach may request one, and teams must return from the 50 second warning.

Equipment time-out

A stoppage a player may request when their wheelchair or equipment is faulty or needs adjusting. The player has one minute to fix it or a time-out must be taken or a substitute made. It is not an opportunity for a substitution.

Fallen player

A player who has fallen and cannot move the chair. The referee stops play at once if the attackers are not in a scoring position or the player is hurt or in the way, otherwise after the scoring chance ends. Team staff may enter and right the chair using a mat, and if more than a minute is needed a time-out or substitution is required.

Violations

Violation sanction

The sanction for every violation is loss of possession, with the ball given to the other team for a throw-in.

Twelve second violation

A team with the ball in its backcourt has twelve seconds to put it into the frontcourt. The count starts when a player takes possession in the backcourt and stops if an opponent takes possession.

Eight second dribble violation

A player with possession must pass or dribble at least once every eight seconds.

Eight seconds in the key

A player whose team has the ball may not stay in the opponents' key area for more than eight seconds.

Backcourt violation (wheelchair rugby)

A team in possession in its frontcourt may not return the ball to the backcourt. It is a violation only if a player of that team was the last to touch the ball before it entered the backcourt and also the first to touch it after.

Out and in violation

A player with possession who has a wheel across the opposing try line out of bounds may not return that wheel to the court, or lift it off the out-of-bounds area, before scoring a try.

Physical advantage violation

A player touching the ball may not touch the floor with any part of the body or the wheelchair other than the four wheels and the anti-tip device.

Throw-in violations

The ball must be released and touched on court within 8 seconds of the whistle, and the in-bounder may not touch it again until another player has. The in-bounder may not enter the court before releasing the ball, must come back in within a 1 m radius, and may pivot but not move sideways along the sideline.

Fouls and penalties

Vertical space

A player is entitled to the space immediately around them when seated upright: from shoulder to shoulder, from the knees to the backrest, and from the head to the legs. Illegal contact in that space is charged to the opponent who starts it, or to the ball carrier if they start it other than in protecting or passing the ball.

Penalty try

A try the referee may award in place of a thirty second penalty when a defensive foul is committed against an offensive player in possession who is clearly trying to score.

Four in the key foul

No more than three defenders of a team may be in their key area while the other team has the ball. A fourth defender in the area is charged with the foul.

Holding and pushing fouls

A player may not grasp or hold an opponent, or lean on one enough to put them at a disadvantage. After legal contact a player may not keep pushing the rear wheels to move an opponent from a legal to an illegal position, and may not help a teammate defend or score by pushing them.

Illegal use of the hands

Using the hands or arms to make deliberate or advantageous contact with an opponent. Inside the vertical space it is charged to the player without the ball, unless the ball carrier started it other than in protecting or passing, and outside it to whoever started the contact.

Contact before the whistle

Flagrant or advantageous contact during a stoppage, since legal contact begins when a referee whistles before a tip-off or throw-in. Each team gets one warning per half, and the second and later incidents are fouls.

Charging foul

Hitting an opponent who is not actively taking part in the play, or is moving on court, with excessive speed or force that risks injury.

One metre foul

No player may enter the 1 m radius around the point on the sideline or end line of a throw-in from the whistle until the in-bounder releases the ball.

The ruleWhat is a four in the key foul?

Leaving the court foul

A player may not leave the court when the ball is dead without permission, or deliberately when the ball is live, except to avoid injury. A defender may not leave across their own try line, and a player may not leave across the opposing try line when a teammate has the ball.

The ruleWhat is a four in the key foul?

Technical foul (wheelchair rugby)

A foul for an administrative error or unacceptable behaviour, by a player or bench personnel, with a thirty second penalty served by the player, or by a player the coach chooses for bench personnel. Examples are abusive language, a hand near an opponent's eyes, raising the body off the seat or using the legs to steer or brake, leaving the penalty box early, and playing with an illegal wheelchair.

Flagrant foul

Unsporting contact beyond a legitimate attempt to play the ball or the chair, including reckless contact or contact meant to intimidate. The player is charged with three try release penalties served one after another, and a second flagrant foul in the same game means disqualification from that game.

Disqualifying foul (wheelchair rugby)

A blatantly unsportsmanlike foul or one with clear disregard for safety, such as dangerous play, fighting or striking an official. The person leaves the field of play and a teammate with the same classification points, or the closest, serves a forty second penalty, not released if the opponents score.

Serving penalties

A penalised player goes straight to their penalty box and stays through stoppages and time-outs, though they may go to the bench in the interval after the second period. If more than two of a team are penalised, the third waits off court and a substitute is made. A penalty from a foul in an interval starts at the next period.

Officials and conclusion

Officials (wheelchair rugby)

Two referees, Referee 1 and Referee 2, a game commissioner, and table officials: a scorekeeper, a timekeeper, a forty second operator and a penalty timekeeper. Referees cannot change the rules.

Captain (wheelchair rugby)

The player marked C on the score sheet, the only player who may communicate with officials for the coach or other players.

Advantage principle (wheelchair rugby)

Contact or a situation that does not affect play, or give an advantage or disadvantage, should be ignored so the game flows. The advantage or disadvantage must come from a player's action, not a referee's decision to call or not call.

Forfeit (wheelchair rugby)

A team forfeits if it refuses to play, is not ready or cannot field four legal players within fifteen minutes of the start time, causes the referee to end the game, cannot keep within the point limit, or is down to fewer than two players. If the forfeiting team is ahead, the score recorded is 1 to 0 for the other team.

Deciding the game

The team with more points after four periods wins. If tied, overtime periods of three minutes, each starting with a tip-off, are played until one team is ahead at the end of a period.