Banfield started volunteering 14 years ago to referee the coed team sport for tetraplegic athletes just two years after visiting Atlanta to help with the Paralympics.
“That kind of got me into some wheelchair sports and seeing how amazing people with a disability are, how self sufficient they are,” she said. “It’s so much fun to watch everyone, especially the new players. You just see the change in them over the first few years.”
The sport, which is played by 42 teams nationwide, combines elements of rugby, basketball and handball. Players compete in teams of four to carry the ball across the opposing team’s goal line to score points.
Contact between wheelchairs is not only permitted, it is also an important part of the sport, with players using their specially-designed chairs to block and hold opponents.
Some of the athletes Banfield has encountered were still in the process of coping with their disability.
“Seeing them go from that mad, angry personality to being able to keep it in check, under control,” she said. “A lot of that comes out when they’re playing. If you’re still frustrated with things, you can see them getting angry with their teammates over silly stuff. Watching that mindset change is great.”
Banfield learned about the sport when her mother worked for a rehab hospital.
“I was on their sports program board of directors and the rugby team came in and said if we could put a tournament together in six weeks, we could host sectionals,” she said.
Banfield became the tournament director for the event, and someone suggested she would make a great official for the game, leading her to take a clinic to learn to referee the sport.
From September to April, Banfield travels to cities in Maine, Florida, Washington, California, Texas and others states for two- to three-day tournaments, which cover her airfare and hotel fees, provide her a per diem and a small game fee.
“I average 80 to 90 games a season,” she said. “So I’m gone probably two to three weekends a month.”
Being away from home might be more difficult to were it not for the fact that her husband Aaron officiated for the sport for 23 years before retiring.
“If it’s a close tournament — and by close I mean six hours or less and we drive as a family — we try and go together,” she said. “We’ve made some great friends in the tournaments, both players and officials. We try and do some of the tournaments together so we can have some time together.”
The couple, who have two daughters, first met during Banfield’s first event.
“He was the head official at that tournament,” she said. “He’s the one who kind of get me involved (with wheelchair rugby) but we started dating a lot later.”
Wheelchair Rugby is a Paralympic sport, with 26 countries competing in international competition and more than 10 others developing national programs, Banfield said.
International travel for the tournaments has taken her to Brazil, Colombia, Canada, Germany and Belgium.
On Thursday, Banfield, who serves a chairwoman for the United States Quad Rugby Referees Association, was scheduled to fly to Denmark to referee the IWRF World Championships, a way to rank athletes prior to the 2014 Paraplegic Olympics.
“This level is a huge new level for me and I’m so excited,” she said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Years of volunteering have helped the IWRF and its players in innumerable ways, but Banfield said she has gotten more out of the deal than she has given, especially given the friendships she’s made traveling internationally for tournaments.
“I’m an athletic person and like to be involved in sports in some way, and I really enjoy helping people, so this is great for me,” she said.
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