Wheelchair Rugby World Championship - A Sport for Development Initiative by Disability Sports Australia

Disability Sports Australia's Wheelchair Rugby World Championship is a sport for development initiative aimed at promoting sports and recreational activities for people with physical disabilities. The proposed initiative would be called as “Wheelchair Rugby World Championship”. The initiative would be conducted with the help of ‘International Wheelchair Rugby Federation’, which is an international body to govern the wheelchair rugby for the disability group. The program will impact the target participant group by providing a platform for skilled and talented people with a disability to enjoy their lives and make healthy earnings.

MMS202, 2018 - Assessment Task 2
Australian Sport for Development Foundation’s Building Communities through Sport
GRANT APPLICATION FORM
PART A – Organisation (max 100 words/ 5 marks)
Provide details regarding your chosen organization
 What is the name of your organization?
 What is the purpose of your organization?
The name of the chosen NSO is ‘Disability Sports Australia’. The main purpose of ‘Disability Sports
Australia' is to generate funds and support its members. The firm wants to become a leading name in
promoting sports and recreational activities at both grassroots and international level to support people
with a physical disability. Funds are utilized for various sporting activities mainly for disabled people to
promote them both at domestic and the international level. Not only this, but the firm also provides
salaries to people associated with the firm and serving a various needs for it such as officials, coaches,
clubs, juniors, regional area members and individual volunteers.
(Disability Sports Australia 2018)
PART B – Programme/initiative description and operations (max 1500 words/ 45 marks)
Describe your proposed sport for development programme/initiative
Title: What will you call this program/initiative? Provide a creative, succinct title that captures the
essence of your program.
The proposed initiative would be called as “Wheelchair Rugby World Championship”. The initiative
would be conducted with the help of ‘International Wheelchair Rugby Federation’, which is an
international body to govern the wheelchair rugby for the disability group. The chosen NSO for this
report ‘Disability Sports Australia’ is a member organization of IWRF. The initiative is already a
popular sporting event and can potentially generate the funding. The selection of title is done
considering that rugby teams from the associated partner countries of IWRF will participate in the
event. The event is already popular among people with approved disability into them and the
audience, the media partners, the funding partners, the supporting agencies and more. Since its
inception in Sydney in 2000, wheelchair rugby has remained a hugely popular event among the
viewers and the people with a disability (Disability Sports Australia 2018).
Provide an explanation of the issue you are addressing and the reasons why this issue is important to
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address in your chosen region (using evidence to support your claims).
The target or the chosen issue in this report is ‘disability’. There are people who due to their physical
inability tends to live a very negative life. They are very short with confidence. They are dependent on
their families for their living expenses and everything. Such disability-exclusive programs and events
provide a good platform for people who live in this city, work and visit the city to enjoy. These people
participate in such social and cultural events for their self-satisfaction (Rhodes et al. 2015). In this way,
they also serve the purpose of organizing such events. Sydney is a host to many such events like the
recreational events, arts & culture, education, sport and social & cultural programs.
It looks evident from the discussion that such events are actually providing platforms for people with
a disability to earn, enjoy and live life on their own. Such disadvantaged people are not just getting
means to find their life enjoyable as like the others do but also being able to manage their daily
expenses and fulfilling the desires (Angelini, Casi and Corazzini 2015).
Describe your sport for development program/initiative.
Wheelchair Rugby, which is being internationally played in many countries those that are a part of the
International Wheelchair Rugby Federation (IWRF). The game is for athletes with a disability.
Approximately in over twenty-five countries, the sport is played and practiced. The sport is generally
played during the summer and this is why it is known as summer Paralympic sport. Players will be
eligible only if they have at least a few loss of function in three limbs. In general most players have
spinal cord injuries; however, players with multiple amputations, neurological disorders and other
identified medical conditions can also qualify. A wheelchair rugby is normally played indoors on a
hardwood court. Notably, a physical contact between wheelchairs is an integral part of such games.
The sport is internationally governed by the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation (IWRF). The
sport is played in several countries across the globe that is a part of IWRF. Australia is one of those
countries and a very active member of the event. A documentary was made on Wheelchair Rugby,
which also won an Oscar nomination in 2005. The name of the documentary was Murderball. It was
reviewed as the top sports movie of all time by the movie reviewing website “Rotten Tomatoes”.
(Disability Sports Australia 2018)
Identify your target participant group and explain how your program/initiative will impact (a) this
group, and (b) your chosen issue (use evidence).
Wheelchair Rugby is an intense game, which is played by male and female athletes. The sport is also
known as ‘Murderball’ for its fierce nature. The collisions of wheelchairs are an integral part to this
sport. Two teams play against each other having four players in each of the sides. Australia currently
holds the top position as declared by International Rugby Federation. The game is an opportunity for
players with all sort of skill levels. Players have to pass through a level of stages before they appear
into the national team. Initially, players are required to join their local clubs and participate in a
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developmental program. Talented and skilled players are then given the opportunity to participate in
local and state competitions. There are associations formed at each of the states who select and form
their team to compete at the national level championships. The Australian Paralympic Committee has
the responsibility to filter out the best out of players to play for the national team (Iwrf.com 2018).
Wheelchair Rugby will expectedly impact the chosen issue, which is ‘disability’. It is providing a
platform to skilled and talented people with a disability to enjoy their lives and make healthy earnings
(Rhodes et al. 2015). It is important as well for such people because they tend to live a very negative
life. They assume their lives as of no mean to them. However, the platform that they get in the form
of sport is changing such perceptions. They are not just enjoying by taking part in such games but are
also being able to create financial resources for them.
Where and when will your program/initiative take place?
Consider geographic locations (e.g. City, Province/ State), type of setting (e.g. parks, community halls,
indoor or outdoor facility) and/or time of year (seasonal, limited or all year).
The program will be held at the Sydney Olympic Park Complex and Netball Central. The program
would happen during the month of August. Games will be played between 15 to 20th of August 2018.
The championship should expectedly host the top 12 teams from various member countries of IWRF.
The list of participating teams will also include the Australian Steelers who are currently the reigning
World and Paralympic Champions. The Australian team will play on home soil to defend their world
title. ’Disability Sports Australia’ will be the governing body for the wheelchair competition to be held
in Australia. ’Disability Sports Australia’ with the help of its partners, the Australian Defence Force and
Australian Rugby Union, will be hosting such a grand sporting event in Sydney.
(Cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au 2018)
Who will deliver the programme/initiative?
For example, community clubs, associations, leagues, third-party deliverers (e.g. personal trainers,
private sport and leisure providers), NSO staff (existing or yet to be recruited) or another group.
The program will be delivered through many bodies involved in such games. One of the most essential
roles will be played by the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation (IWRF), which is responsible for
wheelchair rugby championships at the global level. They provide or generate the funding support to
the specific NSOs, which is in the case study report is ’Disability Sports Australia’. The second most
vital importance is of 'Disability Sports Australia', which governs the entire proceeding from receiving
the required funding from IWRF to host the wheelchair rugby championships. They have the panels of
experts who take care of the shortlisting process. They work hard to find the best 4 players for the
national team. ’Disability Sports Australia’ has been a part of such sports in past as well. It has a
supporting association in the form of various partners like the Australian Rugby Union and the
Australian Defence Force. Apart from these associations and partners, there will be the salaried
people from the case study NSO taking care of the sports fundamentals. For example, there will be
officials, coaches, juniors, individual volunteers, clubs and regional area members (Disability Sports
Australia 2018).
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How will this program fit within the broader operations of your organization (sport/non-profit) in
relation to sports participation and community development?
The program absolutely fits into the broader programs of ‘Disability Sports Australia', which is to
conduct such sporting events and involve in the target community development. It is due to its ability to
host such gaming events and also that it already has experience of hosting such events. The chosen NSO
has been a part of similar events in past as well. In the year 2018, it had conducted a similar sporting
program. It does not only promote the wheelchair rugby games but also the Wheelchair Basketball
National Leagues and Lawn Bowls Multi-Disability National Championships (Cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
2018). The NSO has its purpose to provide supports and opportunities for the development of athletes
at both grassroots and national level. It performs the role of National Coordinating Body and establishes
a common point of contact between partner organizations like (ASC, APC and NSOs) and State &
Territory members (Wheelchair Sports NSW, Disabled association and Sporting Wheelies etc.). Hence, it
is evident that ‘Disability Sports Australia’ is capable of conducting such sporting events and these
events absolutely fit into its broader purposes to support the people with a disability and the
community they belong to.
Detail any partners for your program (which may include sponsors) and describe their contributions,
responsibilities and what stage these partnerships are at.
e.g. partners - consider national, state and local level partners
e.g. partner contributions - monetary or in kind
e.g. partner responsibilities and capacity - their roles in supporting your participation opportunity and
their resources, skills, time to deliver
Partners
The International Wheelchair Rugby Federation (IWRF)
It is an international governing body for wheelchair rugby championships, which happens at the
international level. It provides support in the form of funding, which is a critical success factor for such
sporting events. This is because these sporting events require a different level of preparation at the
different levels. People with a disability is identified at the state level and are promoted to the
national team provided that they are skilled. The process involves several bodies such as coaches,
officials, clubs etc. These bodies help such people groom with skills to perform at the national and
international level.
The Australian Rugby Union
They are responsible for guiding the NSOs to the adherence of policies and rules of featuring sports
events for the disadvantaged people. They take care of the framework, which is followed to conduct a
Wheelchair Rugby Event. They also take care of the rights of participating players in such games.
The Australian Defence Force
They provide support in the form of security being given to such events against unwanted threats of
such as terrorist attacks, clashes between two groups of supporters etc.
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Disabled Association
They help such events by verifying the disability symptoms in people. People with disability in at least
three limbs will only be identified fit for such events. This association is actually the medium to reach
to the disadvantaged people. Their declaration on the disability status ensures that NSOs receives
only the disadvantaged groups of people.
(Disability Sports Australia 2018)
PART C – Evidence (max. 1000 words/ 25 marks)
Describe how you developed this programme/initiative and what resources you drew on in
designing/shaping your programme/initiative (e.g., other programmes, events and initiatives).
 What research and evidence did you use?
 What other initiatives did you use as models/examples to shape your initiative?
 Why is your proposal program innovative/different?
Research and Evidence
The learner has taken the help of various resources to decide and plan the entire program. It has been
done with the help of various secondary resources in the form of government website articles and
journal articles. These resources have helped to collect a good sum of data, which was required to
design a sporting event. One of the resources was accessing to past events of the chosen NSO
‘Disability Sports Australia’. It helped the learner to develop an idea of the program and the kinds of
requirements such programs need. It also helped to understand the various associating partners for
such gaming events. Moreover, it could have been known that such kinds of events require a different
supporting partner, which serves the different needs for the event. These resources did also help in
analyzing the kind of place required for the event such as indoors or outdoors. The research work on
various secondary resources did help to understand how to receive the funding, who is responsible for
it and how the program will shape (Rhodes et al. 2017).
Finding the pieces of evidence is essential to ensure that the set of information is being derived from
the genuine resources. It is also important to ensure a maximum success. This is why the learner has
kept its research restricted just to the valid resources like the different government sites and the
scholarly journal articles (Bragança et al. 2018). Some of the pieces of evidence that have been used are
being mentioned in the reference list. These pieces of evidence helped to know about the various
partners of such events and their roles in sporting events.
Other initiatives
As mentioned earlier, the learner has taken helps from the past events of the chosen NSO. This was
necessary as well because of various reasons. It was needed to identify the venue of the event, the
format of the game whether indoors or outdoors and partners association from both domestic and
international level. Past events were being accessed to understand the benefits and challenges of doing
such events. The findings were being discussed between groups formed especially to organize the
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event. The past success of similar events in Australia helped the learner and team to decide the theme
of the sporting event. Extra efforts have also been given to identifying the roles and responsibilities,
which the different associating partners at both the domestic and global level have. It helped to
understand that whom to approach for different activities. Efforts were also being given on collecting
information on associating partners, development of people with a disability and the conduction of
such events. Development of people happens to be through multiple layers of training initially at the
state level and then later on at the national level. The extra initiatives the learner had adopted helped
them to reach to resources signifying the level wise development of disadvantaged people. Moreover,
it helped to know how to identify the eligible player for a wheelchair rugby championship. The
‘Australian Rugby Union' was identified as the appropriate body to access to the skilled and eligible
player. The research work did inform the learner on everything from who can participate in the event
and who will be responsible for funding and organizing the event (Kelly, Chen and Oyewale 2018).
Innovativeness of the program
The proposed program to the learner is different in terms of purposes that it serve. The program will be
conducted not just to support the salaried people employed especially to groom the disadvantaged
people and to support the people with a disability but also to the community, which the disadvantaged
people belong to. The program will not just support the players but also to those who will not be
participating due to being not eligible for the program. They will be provided with adequate monetary
supports, so that, they could manage their daily and basic expenses. Such things will not just open up
ways towards education for these disadvantaged communities but will also impact the country's
economy (Krivokapic Skoko and Collins 2016‐ ). An increase in the rate of education will expectedly
result in a production of more number of skilled professionals. Moreover, the country that is struggling
with its aging population may soon have an ample of resource in the form of disadvantaged but skilled
people (Vaile, Stefanovic and Askew 2016). The initiative will also encourage the Australian government
to move forward and improve the infrastructure for education. The community development through a
sporting event will eventually impact the thought process of the government. The disadvantaged
people will be motivated towards availing the highly favorable educational infrastructure. Moreover,
the rate of educated and skilled professionals will increase. This will encourage changes in the selection
criteria of reputed and major employers in Australia. They will be encouraged to work upon their rules
and policies to make it much more favorable for people with a disability. This will ultimately impact
upon the rate of unemployment or the labor shortage. An improved labor force will possibly impact the
local economy. A positive local economy will increase the purchasing capacity of people. Hence, they
will also be motivated towards supporting the organizations especially running to support the social,
cultural, financial and educational developments in people with a disability (Cherney, Lindemann and
Hardin 2015). The event is unique and innovative as well in a way that it serves a wider purpose. It is
not for just the people and the salaried people working in the chosen NSO. It is also for the entire
community that these disadvantaged people belong to. It is also beneficial for the educational and
economic structure of Australia.
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PART D – Budget (max. 400 words/ 10 marks)
What will you expend the funding on? Provide a list of categories that the funding will be expended
within along with the reason for spending in this category. Provide a minimum of 5 categories
Category Reason
Scoreboards This is used to display the scoring, which communicates the scoring
throughout the match and also who is the winner at the end. If a match
does not have a scoring system, there will probably be no final outcome
for a particular match. Hence, the hard works required to organize such a
grand event will produce no outcome. Moreover, the purpose of ‘Disability
Sports Australia' to generate funding will also get hampered.
Insurance Insurance coverage is also an important part of a wheelchair rugby
championship. There can be the unexpected casualties to players and the
spectators. Casualties can incur unwanted spending on related activities
like medical treatments. An insurance coverage will help to avoid such
consequences. The case study NSO will also have no extra burden of
spending being made over the unexpected casualties.
Promotion Promotion is one of the most essential parts of any event. The promotion
will help to promote the proposed wheelchair rugby championships both
at domestic and the international level. Such events need to be promoted
at a bigger level to draw the attraction of private firms and others to
generate the funding. The promotion will help to reach to a wider
audience in both local and foreign locations. This would not just enhance
the awareness for the event but also help the revenues to boost from
various media channels. An awareness of the event is always required to
draw the audience towards the sports venue.
Presentations A presentation is an integral part of a wheelchair rugby championship. At
the end of the event, players are awarded monetary and other benefits. If
the presentation is not a part of an event, players will probably have no
motivation for it. Such events are resources to both monetary benefits and
self-satisfaction. The presentation will motivate players towards such
events. The presentation is also a kind of support being given to the
participating teams and the top performing players. It is, therefore, one of
the critical success factors for such events considering the development of
the community as one of its purposes.
Venue Hire Without a venue, there can be no event. The Wheelchair Rugby
Championship is set to be organized at the Sydney Olympic Park. A venue
is probably the first thing that comes to mind after agreeing on organizing
an event. There are an ample of benefits of hiring a venue. First of all,
there will be games to be played at the venue. Promotional campaign
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team also need to advertise the detail of the game, which also includes the
venue address. Spectators and the audience will come only to the venue
to witness the live games, which is one of the income resources for the
event hosting NSO.
Table 1: Budget Allocation Sectors
(Source: Cottingham et al. 2015)
PART E - Monitoring and Evaluation (max 500 words / 15 marks)
How will you, (a) monitor, (b) evaluate the outcome of your initiative? Provide an overview of your
monitoring and evaluation plan.
a) Monitoring
One of the most effective ways to monitor the progress is to deploy the utilization of spreadsheet. A list
of tasks can be arranged in such list followed by adding a column for the deadline for each task. There
will be more columns to show who is responsible for what. There will also be the task details in brief. In
the context of the case study event, a software such as "electronic personal organizer" can also be used.
This can be used to store the documents. This can also be used to set an alarming notification for
planned meetings and set deadlines (Gration et al. 2016).
b) Evaluation
Events such as the case event ‘Wheelchair Rugby Championship' can be evaluated through the following
steps: (DICkSON et al. 2015)
1. Objectives
There is a need to set 3-5 specific objectives, which will be measured at the end of the event. Following
are a few objectives:
 To share between members the information, education and leadership skills
 To encourage members to promote and facilitate the active participation
 To monitor the progress of the event with the necessary tools and software
 To measure and evaluate the success
2. Identifying the various parts of an event to appropriately allocate the tasks
It is important to break down an event into several components as then it will be easier to allocate
responsibilities to the right person. However, those components should be meaningful with respect to
the event.
3. Benchmarking
Benchmarking is a good way to organize and effectively run the whole event. With regard to
benchmarking, other organizations with success in hosting a wheelchair rugby championship can be
referred to. This would not just help in setting the budgets but also in organizing the events.
4. Feedbacks from audience
Several online tools can be used to survey those who have visited the venue and watched the event.
One of such tools is Survey Monkey (McCallum, Vasilijević and Cuthill 2015). Viewers' opinions can be a
good resource to analyze both weak and strong areas of the event. The database thus prepared will be a
handful during the similar or different such events in future.
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5. Measure online success
Google analytics can be used to collect large-scale data on the surges in branded keyword searches to
either the company's or the event's website. Other online indicators include but not limited to like an
increase in Facebook likes, Twitter followers, RSS feed, LinkedIn connections and newsletter subscribers.
Apart from an increase in likes and following, it is also important to know what people are commenting
on social media platforms, on blogs and review websites.
6. Economic impacts
There are online tools like the economic calculator that can be used to calculate the impact of the event
on the local economy. It can also be done by finding out the percentage of local attendees against those
traveling to the event venue and their average spend on services that are locally available.
7. Monitor quality
This can be done by assigning a few personnel on observing a few areas of the event on the quality of
services and spectators’ satisfaction. A quality check is important to learn from mistakes and make the
required improvements to make better impacts in future.
Part F – References
Provide a complete reference list for all sources following the Harvard referencing guidelines
Angelini, V., Casi, L. and Corazzini, L., 2015. Life satisfaction of immigrants: does cultural assimilation
matter?. Journal of Population Economics, 28(3), pp.817-844.
Bragança, S., Castellucci, I., Gill, S., Matthias, P., Carvalho, M. and Arezes, P., 2018. Insights on the
apparel needs and limitations for athletes with disabilities: the design of wheelchair rugby sports-
wear. Applied ergonomics, 67, pp.9-25.
Cherney, J.L., Lindemann, K. and Hardin, M., 2015. Research in communication, disability, and
sport. Communication & Sport, 3(1), pp.8-26.
Cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au 2018. Disability-inclusive events - City of Sydney. [online]
Cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au. Available at: https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/community/community-
support/people-with-disability/disability-inclusive-sports-and-recreation [Accessed 24 Sep. 2018].
Cottingham, M., Gearity, B., Goldsmith, A., Kim, W. and Walker, M., 2015. A comparative analysis of
factors influencing spectatorship of disability sport: A qualitative inquiry and next steps. Journal of
Applied Sport Management, 7(1).
DICkSON, T.J., Darcy, S., EDwARDS, D. and TERwIEL, F.A., 2015. Sport mega-event volunteers'
motivations and postevent intention to volunteer: The Sydney World Masters Games, 2009. Event
Management, 19(2), pp.227-245.
Disability Sports Australia 2018. 2018 IWRF Wheelchair Rugby World Championship. [online] Disability
Sports Australia. Available at: http://www.sports.org.au/events-feed/2018wrwc [Accessed 24 Sep.
2018].
Disability Sports Australia 2018. About DSA. [online] Disability Sports Australia. Available at:
http://www.sports.org.au/about-dsa/ [Accessed 24 Sep. 2018].
Disability Sports Australia 2018. Wheelchair Rugby. [online] Disability Sports Australia. Available at:
http://www.sports.org.au/wcrugby/ [Accessed 24 Sep. 2018].
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Gration, D., Raciti, M., Getz, D. and Andersson, T.D., 2016. Resident valuation of planned events: An
event portfolio pilot study. Event Management, 20(4), pp.607-622.
Iwrf.com 2018. International Wheelchair Rugby Federation : About Our Sport. [online] Iwrf.com.
Available at: http://www.iwrf.com/?page=about_our_sport [Accessed 24 Sep. 2018].
Kelly, V.G., Chen, K.K. and Oyewale, M., 2018. Reliability of the 30-15 intermittent fitness test for elite
wheelchair rugby players. Science and Medicine in Football, pp.1-5.
Krivokapic Skoko, B. and Collins, J., 2016. Looking for rural idyll ‘down under’: International immigrants‐
in rural Australia. International Migration, 54(1), pp.167-179.
McCallum, J.W., Vasilijević, M. and Cuthill, I., 2015. Assessing the benefits of Transboundary Protected
Areas: a questionnaire survey in the Americas and the Caribbean. Journal of environmental
management, 149, pp.245-252.
Rhodes, J.M., Mason, B.S., Malone, L.A. and Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L., 2015. Effect of team rank and player
classification on activity profiles of elite wheelchair rugby players. Journal of sports sciences, 33(19),
pp.2070-2078.
Rhodes, J.M., Mason, B.S., Paulson, T.A. and Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L., 2017. A comparison of speed profiles
during training and competition in elite wheelchair rugby players. International journal of sports
physiology and performance, 12(6), pp.777-782.
Rhodes, J.M., Mason, B.S., Perrat, B., Smith, M.J., Malone, L.A. and Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L., 2015. Activity
profiles of elite wheelchair rugby players during competition. International journal of sports physiology
and performance, 10(3), pp.318-324.
Vaile, J., Stefanovic, B. and Askew, C.D., 2016. Effect of lower limb compression on blood flow and
performance in elite wheelchair rugby athletes. The journal of spinal cord medicine, 39(2), pp.206-211.
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