Harman Patil (Editor)

Wheelchair Australian rules football

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The first organised game of competitive wheelchair Australian rules football was played at the RAAF base in Adelaide, South Australia on 8 November 2015. The game involved a team of injured Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel undergoing rehabilitation at Darwin's soldier Recovery Centre and a Disability Sports Australia (DSA) team made up of players from South Australia. The game was organized by the ADF, Australian Football League and DSA. The final score was: DSA team 16.8.104 defeated the ADF team 14.5.89.

In April 2015, Prince Harry whilst visiting Darwin, Northern Territory raised the profile of this new sport by participating in a game of wheelchair AFL. The game involved injured Australian soldiers.

In November 2015, there are plans to create a national league.

Rules

Rules of the game have some similarity to AFL rules for Australian rules football and include:

  • Game is started by throwing up the ball in the centre of the field.
  • Six points for a goal, and one point for a behind.
  • Kicks are replaced with handballs, and handballs replaced with underarm throws.
  • A red Sherrin football is used, with the game split into four quarters.
  • Game is played on a basketball court with plastic posts at each end of the court.
  • Only six players from each team can be on the field at any given time.
  • Team is divided in backs, centres and forwards but only forwards can score.

    • References

    Wheelchair Australian rules football Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA