Paralympic summit finally in reach for Canadian 'murderball' team

Back in December, during a trip in to Toronto, Trevor Hirschfield had more than just his recent nuptials to celebrate.

Hirschfield and his Canadian wheelchair rugby mates finished 2015 back on top of the world rankings, following a Para Pan Ams gold medal that earned them a spot at the Rio Paralympics and victory at October’s World Wheelchair Rugby Challenge in London. Since its silver medal at the 2012 Paralympics, also in London, this is a side that’s been trending up, culminating in that thrilling OT win over the United States in Toronto last summer that restored their No. 1 status - but it means very little, says the co-captain. It’s this Paralympic tournament, starting Wednesday with an evening match against host Brazil, that will carry the most weight.

“We’ve been riding a crazy wave since London and we continue to grow as a team. It’s really exciting for our team leading into Rio.

“But that No. 1 didn’t come with a gold medal from the Paralympics. To be No. 1 at the Paralympics, where everyone’s supposedly at their best, their A game, and you’re the one that comes on top, that’s where all the hard work comes in. That’s what we want.”

Hirschfield is 32 years old and thus qualifies as one of wheelchair rugby’s ancients now, sharing the captain’s duties with Patrice Dagenais. On a team laden with elders, he credits Zak Madell, the 22-year-old still known as The Kid, for adding the dynamism that has contributed to the resurgence of née Murderball in the country that invented it. Madell carried the flag out for Canada at the Para Pan Ams closing ceremony and was MVP of the WWRC event, in which Canada twice more beat perennial rival United States, and has over the past four years emerged as perhaps the best 3.5 player in the world.

“You see a guy like Zak who’s out there loving the game, and sometimes when you’re older, that gets lost because you’re doing it day to day. Zak was able to remind us why we’re out here,” said Hirschfield. “We’re doing it because we love the sport and as all our bank accounts show, it’s all about the love of the sport. Not to say that was the only thing but it was big that us as a team were able to feed off.”

For Madell, who was named to the London 2012 Paralympic team as a bit of a wildcard that turned out to be much more, it’s been a quick evolution in a game he only started playing seriously in 2011. A staph infection at age 10 resulted in the amputation of his lower legs and fingers. Like so many of the athletes at the Paralympics, it was through sports that he found expression and a sense of “normal” - though in his case, while the rugged nature of wheelchair rugby was a match to the former lacrosse player, it took him a while to adjust to his new mentor and now, his roommate on the road.

“Trevor’s game face looks angry,” says Madell. “It took me a while to realize that he could really help me, he wants to help me learn about how to play this game.

“He’s the team captain for a reason. He’s the level-headed one.”