FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 31, 2026

RISE ADAPTIVE SPORTS TO HOST REGIONAL WHEELCHAIR RUGBY WEEKEND AUG. 14–15 IN IRVING

Rugby athletes from around the region join RISE at Georgia Farrow Recreation Center. Newcomers are welcome — loaner rugby chairs provided, and volunteers are needed to run the weekend.

IRVING—RISE Adaptive Sports will host wheelchair rugby athletes from around the region Friday, Aug. 14, 6–9 p.m., and Saturday, Aug. 15, 9 a.m.–2 p.m., at Georgia Farrow Recreation Center, 530 Davis Dr, Irving, TX 75061.

The weekend is a relaxed, low-key introduction to the sport. Anyone curious about wheelchair rugby — new athletes, physical and occupational therapists, interns, and students — can come watch, meet the players, and get in a rugby chair. Loaner rugby chairs are provided, so first-timers need no equipment.

RSVP for Friday, Aug. 14: https://rsvp.riseadaptivesports.org/programs/wheelchair-rugby/occurrence/btvbFSSNzFo2rsHCCDLw
RSVP for Saturday, Aug. 15: https://rsvp.riseadaptivesports.org/programs/wheelchair-rugby/occurrence/71ciyTkmUAyBC212arYh

VOLUNTEERS MAKE THE WEEKEND RUN

Volunteers are needed across both days — no rugby experience required. Sign up on the Friday or Saturday session pages above, or reach out at https://www.riseadaptivesports.org/contact.html.

WHAT FIRST-TIME VISITORS WILL SEE

Wheelchair rugby is a fast, mixed-gender, full-contact team sport played in specially built rugby chairs on a basketball court. Four players per team take the court; each athlete carries a classification value from 0.5 to 3.5, and the values on court are capped, so lineups are a strategy of their own. Chair-on-chair contact is legal — and loud.

WHO CAN PLAY

Wheelchair rugby is open to men and women with disabilities such as spinal cord injury, amputation or limb loss, cerebral palsy, brain injury, and stroke. Not sure if the sport fits you or a patient you work with? Come to either session and ask — that's what the weekend is for.

RUGBY AT RISE NEARLY EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT

The regional weekend is a doorway, not a one-off: RISE runs wheelchair rugby nearly every Friday night throughout the year at Georgia Farrow Recreation Center. Athletes who try the sport in August can keep playing the very next week. RISE's rugby program competes in the United States Wheelchair Rugby Association (USWRA, https://www.uswra.org/), and RISE hosts the 2026 USWRA Low Point National Championships in Irving this September: https://www.riseadaptivesports.org/events/2026-uswra-low-point-national-championships.html

TRAVELING IN FOR THE WEEKEND?

Recommended hotel: Hilton Garden Inn DFW Airport South, 2001 Valley View Ln, Irving, TX 75061 — minutes from the venue.

The weekend is made possible by C & R Medical Supplies (https://candrmedical.net/) and Classic Chevrolet (https://www.classicchevrolet.com/).

ABOUT RISE ADAPTIVE SPORTS

RISE Adaptive Sports hosts free places to play, compete, volunteer, and belong through adaptive recreation across Dallas–Fort Worth. RISE Adaptive Sports is a disability-led 501(c)(3), founded in 2007, and a Move United Member. Learn more at https://www.riseadaptivesports.org.

MEDIA CONTACT
Randy Kilpatrick, Program Director
randy@riseadaptivesports.org
(972) 292-8650
https://www.riseadaptivesports.org/contact.html

###