The clanging, smashing and banging of metal near the Alumni Plaza yesterday seemed to startle some people, but what was more surprising was the sound came from the UA quadriplegic rugby team.
The quad rugby exhibition game, organized as part of the Disability Resource Center's awareness series "Disability Reframed," was the first game the team played for the UA public, said Bryan Barten, a disability specialist who also plays on the team.
Travis Murao, a quad rugby player, said that because the biggest difficulty for the players was staying cool in the sun, they periodically dumped water on themselves to keep their temperatures down.
From noon to 1 p.m., two teams of four players each competed on the Alumni Plaza within an area blocked off by orange barricades and yellow caution tape in front of spectators and students eating lunch.
Murao said the event was a great way to expose the UA community to a sport they have not seen before.
"The most awareness people have is of basketball, but really there are so many (adaptive) sports out there," said Murao, a freshman majoring in English, who is at the UA on an exchange program from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Brooke Billman, a library science graduate student, watched quad rugby for the first time yesterday and said everyone around her seemed to be having a good time.
This is Billman's first semester at the UA after graduating from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, but she said she has experienced more disability awareness in one semester here than she had as an undergraduate.
"I don't remember there being such an awareness as they have here," Billman said. "I think more schools should have something like this."
Billman said the quad rugby game was fun and "rather loud," and she suggested others check it out.
"I'd encourage anyone who's into sports or just curious to go see the games or a practice," Billman said. "You can see how much fun they're having, and that just adds to the experience."
Kris Vander Mass, who plays on the UA able-bodied men's club rugby team, said he did not see the game yesterday but attended a quad rugby game about two months ago.
Vander Mass, a pre-business freshman, said he didn't think the players would be very aggressive, so he was surprised there was so much contact.
"They go all out, so it's still a wicked tough game," Vander Mass said. "I also didn't think it'd be fun to watch, but I had a lot of fun watching."
Even though the quadriplegic sport has a lot of differences from able-bodied club rugby, Vander Mass said the most important qualities are the same.
"As athletes, they're definitely equals," Vander Mass said. "I love seeing people playing a sport that I love, and I'm glad while they're in wheelchairs they can still play just like us."