The growth of wheelchair American Football

As a wheelchair user myself, I am aware of the day to day struggles a person can face. Watching sport was always an outlet for me to forget about all the stress and worry that comes with life.

My American Football fandom started after I bought the Madden 17 video game, which gave me a real interest and love for the NFL. I was a fan of the big moments that the sport could produce, even from a video game, and subsequently immersed myself in all that the league had to offer.

A big sporting moment transcends everything, and there is a sense of togetherness as you are watching something memorable. Disability sports has given me the opportunity to gain confidence and play the sports I love.

A lot of sports have wheelchair adaptions that allow disabled athletes to play the game. Examples of these sports are basketball and tennis, with their wheelchair versions of the sports being  very popular.  American Football has amassed a large global audience and has seen an increased numbers of participation around the world.

Due to the increased popularity of the able body version, the wheelchair adapted version of the game has also garnered some interest. As the game gets bigger it is absolutely vital to raise awareness, so that everybody has the opportunity to play.

The sport was created for both manual and electric wheelchair users by Tim Nugent, who was known as the “father of accessibility”. Nugent was also the mind behind wheelchair basketball, having came into being once Nugent started a program in the University of Illinois. His goal was to change people’s attitude towards adaptive sports, which is the biggest challenge when it comes to introducing a new game, and help people with disabilities get into sport.

When it comes to the rules of the sport, it is not dissimilar to the abled body version. Having said that, a game is played on a basketball court rather than a field and has seven players on a team. As previously stated, the game is played by both manual and electric wheelchair users.

There are different rules for the two types of wheelchairs. An example of the rule difference is that for a receiver using a manual wheelchair to make a possession they must catch it. Then for a player using an electric wheelchair the ball must hit the chair for a pass to be completed.

The same applies to scoring a touchdown as a manual chair user has to have the ball on their lap coming across the line. Whereas for the electric chair user’s casters have to break the touchdown plain once gaining possession. In terms of field goals and PAT, a player would throw the ball over the backboard of a basketball hoop. The one major difference is special teams; you are not allowed to fake any play and a team must clearly state with they are punting, or taking a field goal etc. Nonetheless, the fundamentals of the abled body game can still be seen.

Teams still have downs, and it is a turnover if they can’t gain the yardage needed in four downs, unless they decide to punt. There are small tweaks made to rules, this can be seen when looking at the holding rule as the officials don’t look at the hands for holding. Instead, they look whether a player’s chair is hooked to another. Player safety is of the upmost importance for the sport, this is why any outpointing parts of the chair must be covered. It is important to keep most of the rules you see in the abled body version, otherwise it will feel like you are watching a completely different sport. 

There is now a competitive league for athletes in America to showcase their skills. The league was founded in 2019 with a grant from the NFL, and the Bob Woodruff Foundation. It has teams from all across the USA, with a lot of them having affiliations with NFL franchises such as the Arizona Cardinals, Las Vegas Raiders, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The association is very important for the wheelchair league and the NFL. The reason for this is that it shows a massive step in terms of inclusivity.  This is similar to NWBA for the NBA, yet the NWBA was founded in 1948.

With the growing UK audience that NFL has acquired in recent years, it is no surprise that the wheelchair game is starting to follow.

It is incredibly promising to see the development of the sport. It is important that disabled athletes see the opportunities to play the sports they love, and its a great way to get active and stay healthy. 

For more information, visit the British American Football website here.