Parapan Am Games: 17 things you didn't know

Do you know what a travel is in wheelchair basketball? Or what goalball is? 

The Parapan Am Games are bringing 15 sports to the city of Toronto, which are rarely competed at such a high level in Canada. Here are some little-known facts about some of these sports you may have never heard. 

• All sports at the 2015 Parapan Am Games are qualifiers for Rio 2016.

• There will be 445 events in 15 sports happening in Toronto, the most ever for a Parapan American Games.

• Hitting the target in archery is the equivalent to releasing the arrow from centre field of a baseball diamond and hitting a smart phone at home plate. 
• A Parapan Am cyclist's bicycle has no brakes and only one gear.
• In football 5-a-side the goalkeeper is the only sighted/partially-sighted player. The other four athletes are visually impaired. A goalkeeper gives out instructions to his/her teammates, who all wear eyeshades to create an equal field of play.
• Football 7-a-side is played by athletes with cerebral palsy or other neurological disorders.
• Only athletes with visual impairment play goalball. That is why a goalball has bells inside it, so players can hear where it is.
• Goalball was invented in 1946 as a rehabilitation sport for blind World War II veterans.
• Spectators are asked to remain silent during gameplay in both goalball and football (both 5 and 7 side) so that players can hear what's happening on the field.
• In judo, a judoka (competitor) needs to make contact with their opponent before the match begins. The process where the opponents grab each other's grip is called "kumikata".
• To ensure fair competition in a sitting volleyball match, a team can have only one minimally disabled (MD) player on the court at the time. The remaining five players are in the sport class of disabled (D).
• Para-swimmers with different impairments compete against each other, because sport classes are allocated based on the impact the impairment has on swimming, rather than on the impairment itself.
• In wheelchair basketball, a player must throw or bounce the ball after every two pushes of their wheelchair. Otherwise, it's a travel.
• The size of the court and the height of the net is the same in wheelchair basketball as it is in able-bodied basketball.
• Wheelchair rugby makes its debut in the 2015 Parapan Am Games.
• Wheelchair rugby's roots are Canadian. The sport was originally named "Murderball."
• Wheelchair tennis uses the same court and rules as able-bodied tennis, except that two bounces are allowed.