Archery Competition at the 2017 Toronto Invictus Games

Today I went to Fort York to watch the Archery Event for the 2017 Toronto Invictus Games.

Most of us will never know the horrors of combat. Many servicemen and women suffer life-changing injuries, both visible and invisible, while serving their countries. How do they find the motivation to move on and to not be defined by their injuries? How can they be recognized for their achievements?

The Invictus Games Foundation was established in London, England, in 2014 to pursue and develop the legacy of the Invictus Games, Prince Harry’s adaptive sport event for injured, ill and wounded servicemen and women and veterans.

Archery involves using a bow to propel arrows at a target from a set distance. This sport is fully integrated, meaning it is played among able-bodied competitors as well as competitors with varying physical disabilities, such as a spinal cord injury or amputation. Competitors can shoot from a standing or sitting position while aiming towards the centre of a target. Archery is a test of accuracy, strength and concentration.

The line of competitors' team tents.

Archers aim at 40 cm targets set 18 metres away from the shooting line. Novice archers, those participating in archery for less than a year, shoot at 60 cm targets.

There is a time limit for all competitors to shoot and each fires three arrows in that time. A bullseye is worth 15 points. After each round, they go to the target and tally up the competitors score.

Waiting for their turn to shoot.

Canada's tent.

Canada in action. Like a baseball batter, always keep your elbow up. Canada beat the USA in this round.

One teams bows.

Canada and Australia below, were tied in their round and had to go to a shoot-off. They lined up and had 45 seconds to shoot one arrow. Closest to the bullseye wins. Canada took it.

It was announced that a competitor from the USA team had been perfect, hitting six bulleyes in a row. Funny as he was competing against a fellow USA teammate. The score at that point was 90-81, so the other competitor had a great round going himself but just had the bad luck to be placed up against somebody who was perfect. Oh, on the next round of shots, he ran his total up to nine in a row and took the round. Amazing.

Archery was quite interesting to watch. Competitors not only have to take in whether the target is slightly uphill or downhill, they also must factor in any wind or breeze, which today came and went in an instant.

It's a very interesting sport to watch. The medal rounds are tomorrow from 9am to 6 pm at Fort York and entrance to the event is free.

Wheelchair Rugby (Murderball) at the 2017 Toronto Invictus Games

This afternoon I went to see the pool rounds for Wheelchair Rugby at the Invictus Games being held here in Toronto.

Most of us will never know the horrors of combat. Many servicemen and women suffer life-changing injuries, both visible and invisible, while serving their countries. How do they find the motivation to move on and to not be defined by their injuries? How can they be recognized for their achievements?

The Invictus Games Foundation was established in London, England, in 2014 to pursue and develop the legacy of the Invictus Games, Prince Harry’s adaptive sport event for injured, ill and wounded servicemen and women and veterans.

As you can see the place was packed, and the crowd was boisterous. (note: The yellow are not empty seats. Many on the other side of the arena were wearing yellow tee-shirts)

The games were played in the main arena (top picture) and in the Coca-Cola Centre of Ryerson's Mattamy Athletic Centre.

So what is Wheelchair Rugby?

Any sport originally coined “murderball” has excitement written all over it. Wheelchair rugby is a team sport played indoors on a hardwood court. Competitors play in wheelchairs, and their objective is to score the most goals by carrying, dribbling, or passing the ball toward the opponent’s end. Contact between wheelchairs is allowed and players frequently collide as they attempt to stop their opponents and take control of the ball. Players gain points by touching the goal line with two wheels while in possession of the ball. The team with the most points wins the game.

I saw Team Canada play Australia first. The fans cheered hard but Canada lost.

There was great camaraderie between the players as you can see during their handshakes after the game.

Next up was Canada vs Denmark who is a highly ranked team. We played hard but lost again.

Each team has a stack of spare tires ready to go.

The chairs are crashed around so much and the wheels so exposed that they do break. Each game seems to have one or two tire changes, which are done as fast as any car racing team.

Action from the Australia ~ New Zealand game.

Flags were everywhere.

This video shot today of the Australia ~ New Zealand game gives you some idea of the game. It is only 45 seconds long but features a rollover crash and a goal. Wheelchair rugby is a hard but fast game.

I really enjoyed all the action today. It's a fun game to watch. I even bought myself an Invictus baseball style shirt. Tomorrow night is the semi-finals, finals and medal presentations and if you have a chance, it would be worth your while to attend.