JACKSON—Quad rugby, the fastest growing sport on two wheels, is taking hold in Jackson as Mississippi’s only quad rugby team, the Jackson Jags, prepare to host the nation’s number one team at a January tournament. The team will practice tonight at the Fortification branch of the YMCA.
Sponsored by Methodist Rehabilitation Center, the team consists for four male or female players with quadriplegia. Played with a volleyball on a basketball court, players may pass, throw, bat, roll, dribble or carry the ball in any direction. Points are scored by touching or crossing the opponent’s goal line while maintaining possession of the ball.
MRC received a grant from the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services to start a team in the state in 1997. “All along our goal was to develop a team which can compete regionally or nationally,” said Ginny Boydston, director of therapeutic recreation at MRC. “We participate in tournaments all over the South and now we have a shot at the best team in the nation.”
The Jags are set to take on Birmingham’s team, the Lakeshore Demolition, in Jackson on January 21.