Written By: Mark Janzen Standing on the touchline waiting for her chance to enter the fray, Kelsi Stockert had a laugh.   Set to run onto the pitch as a late replacement, she casually chit-chatted with the person charged with directing the substitution traffic. Just before running out for the final few seconds of the United States’ quarter-final match with New Zealand in Dubai, Stockert was learning the man’s life story. It turns out he plays touch rugby and he coaches rugby and referees rugby. He also put a smile on Stockert’s face.  “He was just hilarious,” she says. “I like telling jokes and talking to people and having fun. That way, I’m not too freaked out. That’s when I’m at my best.”  A few moments later, Stockert...

Written By: Chris Perotte Falling in Love with the Sport  High tempo; energetic, fast paced, crashing, and banging. A game that takes a lot out of you physically. When Michael Whitehead saw this game in person, he immediately fell in love with it and decided to take up this sport.  If you think I’m referring to the game of hockey, then you would be mistaken.   The game I just described is Wheelchair Rugby.  A game that Whitehead feels has similar characteristics to hockey. Wheelchair rugby caught his attention one evening at approximately 6:30 pm in the first week of February in the year 2000.  From that...

Written By: Doug Crosse  In Mexico, they call him Coach Loco. In Saskatchewan, it’s just Coach or Robin. His travel agent follows the Mexican theme, this coach is crazy when it comes to the job of coaching teams from multiple locations in multiple countries.  Robin MacDowell, 38, a former Canadian sevens team member, has gotten the coaching bug in a big way in the past few years. He has also gotten pretty adept at airline schedules and packing light in the process.  “I am a sick animal,” he laughs, as he details his coaching life. “I love living 12 months a year...