LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — For people with life-altering spinal cord injuries, staying active and staying social can be challenging.
There's a sports team in Las Vegas helping people thrive after serious injuries, and the Las Vegas High Rollers are February's Vegas Stronger Champion.
Bradley Boe, president of the team, describes the sport of wheelchair rugby as having components of hockey, basketball, and soccer.
"It really is a spectator sport," Boe told KTNV, "you play in a gym with full metal wheelchairs, and it's full contact, so it's loud when we hit each other. And not only do people flip over, but we try to flip each other over, so that can be shocking for people the first time they play."
Finding the sport of wheelchair rugby was a godsend after Boe suffered a spinal cord injury at Lake Tahoe in 2014 and was left paralyzed. Many of the athletes on the Las Vegas High Rollers had a similar experience after their own serious injuries.
"In rehabs, it's pretty standard for them to show you a movie called Murderball if you're a quadriplegic," Boe explained. "I'd been an athlete my whole life, and I didn't think it was possible after my accident until I saw that and thought, 'Hey there's a sport for me, it looks like a lot of fun, it's quick, it's full contact, it's high scoring, what's not to love?'"
Boe and his teammates love the camaraderie of wheelchair rugby, and he says he's made more friends across the country after his accident than before thanks to the sport.
But, wheelchair rugby involves expensive equipment, with each wheelchair costing around $8,000.
The High Rollers Adaptive Sports Foundation maintains a fleet of wheelchairs to help introduce people to the sport. Donations are used to buy wheelchairs and to support traveling around the country to tournaments several times per year.
For encouraging others to pursue athletics in the face of serious lifelong injuries, Bradley Boe of the Las Vegas High Rollers is February's Vegas Stronger Champion.
Jeff Giles of Findlay Automotive Group presented a donation check to the team during a recent tournament that drew wheelchair rugby teams around the country to the Dula Gymnasium near downtown Las Vegas.
"We love what you guys are doing and we just think that it's a great thing in our community for all the guys that are participating in it," Giles said. "We just wanted to show our appreciation for what you guys do, and highlight you as our Vegas Strong Champion."
Findlay Automotive Group is a sponsor of Vegas Stronger Champion.
