Try Wheelchair Rugby, aka 'Murderball'

Wheelchair Rugby is a Paralympic sport, and is played competitively in over 25 countries around the world. The game was first developed in Canada, where it was known as 'murderball', due its aggressive and full-contact nature.

The governing body Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby, have teamed up with Milton Keynes and Stantonbury Arts and Leisure Centre to bring the sport to the town. Unlike wheelchair basketball, which has always been the most popular team sport for wheelchair users, wheelchair rugby allows for full-contact. It is one of the only full-contact disability sports, and was one of the most popular at the Paralympic Games in 2012.

Wheelchair rugby is played inside, on a court with the same measurements as a basketball court. It is a mixed-gender sport, and teams can have up to 12 players, although no more than four from each team can be on the court at any one time. Players score by carrying the ball across the goal line.

If you have a disability and are over 16 years old, there is the opportunity to try this sport in one of four upcoming taster sessions. The sessions will be held at Stantonbury Leisure centre from 1-3pm, and are run by experienced coaches, with rugby chairs provided.

The first session will run on Saturday 31st January, then Sunday 15th February, Thursday 28th February and Sunday 8th March.

Get your photo taken with the Rugby world Cup trophy!

The rugby world cup is launching today with an event in Middleton Hall, centre:mk. 'Too big to miss' is coming to the centre:mk from 9am-6pm. There will be the opportunity to have your photo taken with the Trophy from 12.30pm. There'll be rugby-based interactive activities and games where you can test out your skills, competitions and you'll also be able to meet local clubs. Find out more information about the upcoming rugby world cup, including ticket information. Tickets are on sale from 12th-29th September, and it's not a first-come-first-served basis, simply sign up for the matches you want and if over subscribed the tickets will be balloted out to ensure the distribution of tickets is as fair as possible.

Get the Stadium MK dates in your diary now!

STADIUMMK
01/10 - 20:00	France		-		Canada	Stadiummk
Cat A Cat B Cat C (Child) Cat D (Child)
£150 £115 £75 (£15) £50 (£15)
03/10 - 14:30	Samoa		-		Japan	Stadiummk
Cat A Cat B Cat C (Child) Cat D (Child)
£85 £65 £35 (£15) £20 (£15)
06/10 - 20:00	Fiji		-		Play-Off Winner	Stadiummk
Cat A Cat B Cat C (Child) Cat D (Child)
£60 £45 £35 (£7) £15 (£7)

'Ping' Milton Keynes

Have you come across 'Ping!' in and around Milton Keynes this summer? Well there have been table tennis tables set up across the city to simply allow people to play for free. The initial idea of Ping! was to help build community spirit and involvement in sport leading up to the Olympics, and has been in a number of cities across the country, but Ping! is new to Milton Keynes this year. The tables have even reached as far as Olney, and one of the table tennis tables can be found at Olney Recreational field, next to the children's play area and the river. It's a great opportunity to get into sport in a free way, so make the most of it before the sun really does leave us for good, the nights are drawing in and there's a bit of a chill in the air, but there's still a little bit of sunshine for us to hold on to, so why not enjoy some ping pong while it's here?!

Scotland host their biggest ever sporting event: The Commonwealth Games 2014

Then:

The Commonwealth games was originally known as the 'British Empire Games' and began in 1930, with 11 nations competing. The idea of a competition bringing together the members of the British Empire was started by John Astley Cooper 1891, who proposed a fishing competition, saying that there should be a  "Pan-Britannic-Pan-Anglican Contest and Festival every four years as a means of increasing goodwill and good understanding of the British Empire" The first British Empire Games was held in Canada in 1930, and then the games were interrupted by the Second World War and so the four-yearly schedule was paused until it was revived in 1950 and re-named the British Empire and Commonweath Games in 1954. By 1958 over 30 teams were involved, with over 1000 athletes in total.

Now:

The Commonwealth Games today is a multi-sport event, which involves athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations (which contains 53 countries) and involves around 17 different sports. This year's Commonwealth Games is, as you probably already know, being held in Glasgow, and is the largest multi-sport event to ever be held in Scotland, with approximately 4950 athletes talking part from 71 different nations. The event runs for 11 days, and can be watched live on BBC1 and BBC3, and the closing ceremony takes place on the 3rd August. After making the World Cup a bit of a sore point, do you think  England will do better in the Commonwealth Games?!


Described as a proud and fun opening, Scotland kicked off the games well last week. If you missed it, catch the opening ceremony highlight here:

World Juggling Day

Just when you think you've heard all of the bizarre national and international days there are to try and remember, 'world juggling day' comes along! Apparently the aim of the day is to help spread the fun of juggling and to bring jugglers together all over the world, so if you're a juggler, this is for you! I'm not sure how many of you out there are pro-jugglers (if you are we'd love to heard from you!) Of the 37 events taking place around the world on world juggling day, the UK one is being held in Oxford, not too far away for us based in the Milton Keynes area! The event will run between 10 and 10pm, at the Oxford Brookes sports centre, Cheney Lane, OX3 0BT. The event costs £8 for the day and the show.

Whether you're a pro-juggler, a novice, wanting to try juggling for the first time, or whether when you think of 'juggling', you think of trying to balance kids, work, and family life, today is the day to get involved!

Apparently one of the easiest ways to learn to juggle is to start with tennis balls (they're bigger and easier to navigate, supposedly!) or beanbags, as they're less likely to bounce if (and when!) dropped. Follow the link here to find a step-by-step guide to juggling, good luck!

Sport Relief

It's that time of year again, and today marks the official start of Sport Relief! Although you've probably seen merchandise in the shops and adverts on the TV and radio for the last month or so, today actually kicks off the Sport Relief weekend.

Events are taking place across the country, with the Sainsbury's Sport Relief games; the swimathon, the mile and the cycle, which are taking place in a number of locations, allowing for everyone who wants to get involved to do so. Sponsorship raised through these events goes towards the work Sport Relief are doing, which helps people both at home in the UK and abroad, helping create safer lives, stronger communities, healthier finances, better futures and a fairer society. In the UK, Sport Relief provide young people with shelter and protection for those living on the streets and suffering domestic abuse, and further afield providing communities with clean water and life-saving vaccinations.

As well as the big three Sainsbury's games, there will be numerous other events and activities taking place across the country today and over the weekend. Today will be a big one for schools and workplaces I reckon, with various sponsored events taking place all in aid of Sport Relief. There's a song that's been written with the idea of getting it sung in school assemblies, some schools will be holding Sport themed events which the children have been fundraising for, as well as fundraising sales, mufti days and more!

How do you feel about the event? It's clearly a great way of raising money and helping loads of great causes, but is it a bit too hyped up or do you think that's just the necessary way of getting the message across to thousands of people at the same time? We'd love to hear your thoughts on Sport Relief, let us know if you're doing anything for the weekend in order to raise money. Or maybe you're the less sporty type and are planning on watching the night of Sport Relief TV tonight (7pm)… I know which I'll be doing!

Sarah