Powerchair football

Powerchair Football, also known as Power Soccer is a competitive team sport for disabled people who use power wheelchairs. The game is played in a gymnasium on a regulation basketball court. Two teams of four players use powerchairs equipped with footguards to attack, defend, and spin-kick a 13-inch (330 mm) football in an attempt to score goals.

According to powerchair football researcher Dr. Michael S. Jeffress, powerchair football was first played in France in the 1970s. Various forms of the sport developed concurrently throughout Europe and North America. It gained recognition in 1983 at the British Columbia Games for the Disabled and in 2004 by the National Disability Sports Alliance. The San Francisco Bay area and Boston area were early centers of power soccer activity in the US through the Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program and the Massachusetts Hospital School. In January 2005, 24 representatives from 7 nations (France, United States, Canada, Japan, England, Belgium, and Portugal) met in Le Chesnay, France to lay the foundation for forming the International Powerchair Football Association. Nine months later a second meeting was held in Coimbra, Portugal to finalize a standardized set of rules for international play. Finally, in July 2006, in the context of an international tournament in Atlanta, Georgia, delegates finalized a constitution and changed the name of the governing body to the Federation Internationale de Powerchair Football Associations (FIPFA). During this same timeframe the United States Power Soccer Association (USPSA) was formed with headquarters in the Indianapolis, Indiana area. Since then, numerous powerchair associations have formed and the number of teams competing within FIPFA worldwide is estimated at over 250. Although Powerchair Football lost its 2010 bid to enter the Paralympic Games, it is positioning itself for a strong bid for its rightful place in the Games in the future.

The sport is played in on a standard-sized basketball court. Each team is allowed 4 players on the court at one time including the goalkeeper. A match consists of two 20-minute periods. Because of the two-dimensional aspect of this game (players are typically unable to kick the ball into the air), artificial space has to be created around the players. The two distinct differences in the laws from the able bodied game are: 1) the "two-on-one" rule, and 2) the 3-in-the-goal-area violation.

In the case of either of these infractions (2-on-1 and 3-in-the-area), the referee may refrain from making the call if the player in question is not affecting the play (similar to the concept of the offside law in able-bodied football).

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