2 Windsor-Essex wheelchair rugby athletes competing in Parapan American Games

Two local wheelchair rugby athletes are hoping to qualify for the summer Paralympics over the next two weeks at the Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile.

It's the third Parapan American Games Essex County native Mike Whitehead has competed in and the first for Windsor resident Matt Debly. 

"I am excited and nervous for the magnitude of everything and just really focused on taking it all in and enjoying the experience," said Debly in an interview with CBC Windsor. 

"And I get to enjoy that energy that they are bringing to their first right because it just doesn't get old," said Whitehead, who has been a member of the team since 2001 following a spinal cord injury in 1999.

The Canadian team, ranked fifth internationally, is preparing for a tough competition. 

"The sport of wheelchair rugby is growing faster than anything I have ever experience and that gap is closing among all the top teams," Debly said.

Wheelchair rugby is a hybrid of multiple sports with elements of basketball, handball and ice hockey. The object of the game is to carry the ball across the opposing team's goal line, with teams having 40 seconds to score on each possession. The sport is played on a hardwood basketball court and a standard volleyball is used. 

The sport, nicknamed "murderball," is known for its physicality. 

"There's an instant draw to playing such a physical sport when you have a disability because it's one of the things we don't have a lot of opportunity to do, so right away I was drawn to the physical aspect of the game," said Debly.

"[We're] changing stereotypes one hit at a time," said Whitehead.