Last month, the BORP High Fives won 1st place at the US Wheelchair Rugby Association Division II National Championships, held in Tampa Florida. In addition to clinching the gold, the team left the championship undefeated.
Although entering as underdogs with a low seed and facing multiple teams to which they suffered losses in the semi-final, the players finally brought the energy necessary and put all the strategic pieces together. Toward the end of the season, the team capitalized on additional opportunities for the whole team to practice together. As the only wheelchair rugby team in California, players traveled up to four hours for extra practices between the semi-final and national championship. Significant improvements in the players’ teamwork and cohesion resulted. Their performance was outstanding the entire tournament, with scarce mistakes and forcing their opponents into plentiful turnovers.
This season marks their third in a streak of rising through the rankings. They finished in 3rd place of Division II last year and 2nd place of Division III the year before. The BORP High Fives have never been more motivated to continue the hard work that led them to such a decisively victorious season end.
