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Adaptive athletes get physical with Seattle Slam wheelchair rugby

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Adaptive athletes get physical with Seattle Slam wheelchair rugby


On a recent Wednesday in West Seattle, eight athletes in wheelchairs spun across the Southwest Teen Life Center’s basketball court. A volleyball flew from player to player; chairs collided and disengaged, filling the gym with metallic booming sounds.

For those familiar with wheelchair rugby—a fast-paced, full-contact sport played by athletes with both upper- and lower-limb impairments—the scene was unremarkable.

“It’s an hour and a half of sprinting back and forth, and people trying to kill you the whole time,” said Jeremy Hannaford, a Port Orchard native who has been playing wheelchair rugby for 20 years.

Hannaford is the coach of the Seattle Slam, Washington’s only wheelchair rugby club. Every Wednesday from 5 to 9 p.m., people of all abilities and from all walks of life gather in West Seattle for the Slam’s weekly open practice.

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Players joke around as they transfer into rugby chairs and don rubber-coated gloves and athletic tape to protect their hands from injury. Support staff—physical and occupational therapists—are on hand to right chairs, rip tape, and reinflate tire tubes.

Wheelchair rugby, also known as “quad rugby” or “murderball,” was invented in 1977, but has struggled to gain mainstream attention. This past summer, two factors drove increased media coverage: Team USA took home the silver medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, while Sarah Adam became the first woman to compete for Team USA.

According to Hannaford, the attention trickled down to the Seattle Slam. As Washingtonians realized there was a local outlet for the game, the Slam saw an influx of sponsorships and fans.

Brian Moore, who used to regularly drive three hours each way to play with the Slam, noted that new, able-bodied viewers are realizing something people with disabilities have known all along.

“For able-bodied people who see the sport for the first time, they’re kind of blown away by it,” Moore said. “For anyone that’s living with a disability of any type, it’s not nearly as impressive, because they’re used to just doing whatever they want to do anyways. They’re just people doing people things.”

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“Yeah, we’re disabled, we’re in wheelchairs, whatever, but we’re elite athletes,” Hannaford added. “We bust our ass to be as good as we are, and we have ambitions and goals.”

For Hannaford, one of those goals is to grow the Slam into a competitive force. In 2005, when he first started playing with the Slam, the team didn’t prioritize attending travel tournaments, the way they do now.

“We didn’t make nationals for the first six, seven years I played,” he said. “It was more just, we go and have fun.”

Things have changed gradually: the Slam established a nonprofit, brought in coaches to run clinics, sought out sponsors, and appointed a team manager. Brent Rotter, a seven-year Slam veteran, has witnessed the Slam’s evolution firsthand.

“There is an underlying current on our team now that we want to go out and, if not win a national championship, at least get to nationals,” he said, referencing the United States Wheelchair Rugby Association’s national championship tournament, which takes place in early May.

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Although Hannaford, Rotter, and the other members of the “Slam Fam” play to win, they’re also intentional about cultivating community, according to Cecilia Black, the only woman on the Slam’s ten-person roster. “Our team is such a family,” she said.

Members of Seattle Slam practice wheelchair rugby in West Seattle.

Chase Tasca, who joined the Slam three years after a devastating motorcycle accident, echoed Black’s assessment. “You learn a lot about how to live with a disability,” he said. “Even more, I’d say, than what you learn in the hospital. I mean, there’s guys here that have been disabled just about as long as I’ve been alive.”

Multiple Slam players expressed regret for not involving themselves in the wheelchair rugby community earlier in their recovery. To that end, Hannaford wants the Slam to continue to connect with potential recruits, as often and as early as possible.

“We’re trying to reach out to hospitals and occupational therapists and physical therapists and people that deal with disabilities and trying to get the word out that we’re here,” he said, adding that he encourages everyone to come to an open practice and “at least try it and see what happens.”

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After all, someone might get lucky enough to experience the same thing Hannaford did the first time he transferred to a rugby chair.

“Freedom,” he said.





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VIDEO: Scream Club Seattle keeps growing, midway through first year

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VIDEO: Scream Club Seattle keeps growing, midway through first year


(Story originally posted 8:22 pm, updated 12:32 am)

By Torin Record-Sand
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

From a distance, they looked like a regular crowd of people enjoying a nice evening walk on the shores of Lincoln Park. But they were gathered here for a singular purpose: to scream. Since September 2025, the Scream Club Seattle has met at Lincoln Park on every third Sunday to scream, led by head organizer Amber Walcker. No explanation, justification, or invitation to scream is needed – come as you are. “There are some harder emotions people come here to deal with, sure, but some people also just come to scream.” head organizer Amber explained.

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Tonight’s crowd showed the club is rapidly growing. From around a dozen or so participants in the first gathering in September, tonight seemed to attract around 40 people gathering to let it all out.

As the sun started to set, and everyone was finally gathered together, the Scream Club was ready to begin.

There are only three screams, organizer Amber explained. The first, she said, is a scream to get used to doing it in public. The second scream is there to ground you. And the final – and longest scream – is there to let you have an emotional catharsis.

She also wanted to make sure people were taking care of their vocal health beforehand. As she told everyone to walk a little bit from the meeting place and start to gather near the shore, she instructed the crowd to hum for a few minutes on the way, to warm up the vocal cords.

With that, the crowd walked towards the shore.

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“On the count of one – two – three – scream!” said organizer Amber.

You can see our video of the proceedings here. After the screaming, we talked to a few participants about why they came out.

“There’s not one thing that’s really making me want to scream. There’s a lot of stuff going on for me, a lot of emotional ups and downs. Screaming into the ocean together gives you a sense of community.” said Jessie.

“This is my third or fourth time coming to scream. With the political climate, with everything that’s happening, getting together with local community to scream feels more productive than screaming into the internet on social media.” said Ursula.

“This is my first time coming out.” said Liz. “I screamed after the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, and I really felt something. I realized I’ve been feeling a lot of frustration recently, and it felt like coming here was a healthy way to get it out rather than screaming at your neighbors.”

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Organizer Amber recognizes much of what they were saying. “Meeting like this can be an important element to have in your mental health toolbox. It’s rare to have scream therapy.” She shared an anecdote about the therapeutic origins of the group, which originally started with a chapter in Chicago. “The founder was a life coach. Their girlfriend was having a bad day, and they encouraged them to go to the Chicago Pier and just let it out. He walked her through the process, and that was that. Eventually they invited more people to come do it.” She hopes to bring that same therapeutic energy to the practice here. “It’s a moment of emotional release more than anything else. Depending on what’s going on in people’s minds, everyone will come here with a different mindset and purpose. We’re providing a safe space to do that.”

Scream Club Seattle meets at Lincoln Park on the first Sunday of every month, and they are also starting to meet on the third Sunday of every month at Golden Gardens in Ballard. Tentatively, the next events will be in Lincoln Park on April 5th around 6 PM, and Golden Gardens on March 15th around 5 PM. If you’d like to know more, you can find them on Instagram here or look at their future events on their Eventbrite page here.





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Seattle, WA

Detectives Investigating Robbery, Shooting Over $20 Necklace – SPD Blotter

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Detectives Investigating Robbery, Shooting Over  Necklace – SPD Blotter


Seattle police detectives are investigating a robbery and shooting of a 23-year-old man over a $20 necklace in Pioneer Square this morning.

At about 12:40 a.m., patrol officers responded to a shooting in the 500 block of 2nd Avenue. There, they found a victim, bleeding, with a gunshot wound to his right thigh. Police and the Seattle Fire Department treated his injury. Medics took him to Harborview Medical Center (HMC) in stable condition.

Police determined that the victim just left a bar, getting into the passenger seat of his friend’s car, when the suspect, wearing a ski mask and armed with a firearm, approached him and demanded his necklace. They struggled over the item, and the suspect shot the victim in the leg. The shooter fled in a vehicle with the necklace before police arrived. The value of the “chain” is about $20.

Detectives in the Robbery Unit responded to the scene and HMC. Anyone with information is asked to call the SPD Violent Crimes Tip line at 206-233-5000. Anonymous tips are accepted.

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Incident Number: 2026-57536



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Fast Start for Kraken Win, Homestand | Seattle Kraken

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Fast Start for Kraken Win, Homestand | Seattle Kraken


That stretch begins with five more home games: A skilled and successful Carolina squad Monday, followed by St. Louis (for the second time in a week) Wednesday, Ottawa next Saturday, then Nashville (just behind Seattle in the West wild-card race) on March 10 and then finishing with Western Conference leader Colorado March 12.

Stars Shine and Star-Crossed Hat Trick

Vince Dunn opened the scoring in his 600th NHL game. Jordan Eberle topped the best Kraken-season goals mark with his 21st and 22nd goals of the year, with 23 games left to flirt with his first 30-plus goals on the year since his sophomore season in 2011-12. Joey Daccord registered 27 saves on the victorious night, including nine high-danger chances in the first 40 minutes alone.

To the fans’ disappointment, the slick-stickhandling Daccord missed a historic goalie goal by inches. But the sellout crowd was rewarded when Eberle cashed in on the Vancouver empty net. Eberle now has four two-goal games this season.

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In a bizarre twist, when Eberle scored that empty-netter, Kraken fans rightfully cheered and tossed headwear for what was presumed to be a hat-trick score. But after Eberle scored, the scoring change on the Kraken’s power play goal was announced when off-ice officials realized Eberle’s shot had just ever-so-slightly deflected off Matty Beniers’ skate. So no hat trick for the second time this season. Linemate Jared McCann and hat-tossing fans thought the Kraken’s all-time leading scorer had notched a hat trick earlier this season, only to have it reversed when an offside infraction by, wait for it, Beniers, erased the goal.

Eberle joked post-game that maybe fans deserved some hats. The Kraken captain also said when Daccord missed by inches on his goalie goal, he was on the bench saying, “he got it, he got it.” Post-game, Eberle said, “It’s just a matter of time before he gets one” because he greatly admires the goaltender’s puck-handling skills.

The Kraken came out fast Saturday night with two goals, a couple of near-misses, lots of scoring attempts and pucks on net during the first 20 minutes. One near-miss was a hard wrist shot from Jordan Eberle that clanged off the far post. But no matter, Eberle scored a pivotal goal in the second period, getting in front of a Vancouver shot and chasing his own ricochet to create a breakaway with his still-elite speed. The 35-year-old Seattle captain went to his lethal backhand to beat Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen. Eberle’s tally re-upped the two-goal lead.

Good night for Kraken special teams as well. The penalty killer snuffed an early third period Canucks power play to keep the two-score cushion. Later third period, Matty Beniers scored on the power play, deflecting an Eberle shot, to push the score to 4-1. Chandler Stephenson earned his second point of the night with the primary assist. Same for Dunn, who notched the second assist. The Kraken needed just 10 seconds to score the man-advantage marker.

Captaining His Best Kraken Season…

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It is Eberle’s 21st goal of the season. The next one he scores will set a new high as a Kraken for the teammate everyone calls “Ebs.” That makes it three of five seasons that Eberle has scored 20 or more goals. Eberle almost scored again later second period when matching cross-checking penalties on SEA forward Kaapo Kakko and VAN defenseman Filip Hronek. The ensuing 4-on-4 play was dominated by the Kraken quartet of Eberle, Matty Beniers, Brandon Montour and Ryker Evans. Beniers stood with some moves and an improv that had future Hall of Fame play-by-play man John Forslund saying, “Beniers did everything but score.” It was heartening to see Seattle flexing its offensive chops with a 3-1 lead.

The Kraken scored twice in an opening 20 minutes played to order, returning to the hard forechecking game they exhibited on a heater 10-game streak before the Olympic break. The starting goalie did his part, stopping all nine of Vancouver’s shots in the first 20 minutes to bring confidence to the first-intermission home locker room.  

Jumping Out of the Starting Blocks

The Kraken faithful were mega-decibel loud during the announcement of the starting lineups, welcoming back Olympian bronze medalists Kaapo Kakko and Eeli Tolvanen, as well as Seattle teammates. This week’s two road losses forgotten, replaced by rousing cheers for starters and fourth-liners Freddy Gaudreau, centering Jacob Melanson and Ben Meyers (on the wing for the first since a road matchup in LA right before the winter holiday break).

Defenseman Cale Fleury and Ryker Evans rounded out the skaters in front of Joey Daccord. It’s not a stretch to think head coach Lane Lambert was sending a message with his fourth line and third pair getting the first shift after losing two games in the Midwest by a composite score of 9-2.

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Saturday morning, both defenseman Vince Dunn and Lambert both talked about what would be the ideal first 10 to 20 minutes in this Pacific Division showdown with rival Vancouver.

“We need to play simple and hard and direct,” said Dunn, who was playing in his 600th NHL game, 333 with Seattle. “I think we’re very connected when we can get our forecheck going. I think the way we play as a five-man unit is that we slow teams down and don’t get scrambled in our own end. We’re more patient in our own end and letting guys accept their positions and roles and areas that they need to defend in.

“Right away, we need to start shooting pucks … the past two games, the shot count hasn’t been where we wanted it to be in the first 10 minutes. So let’s get some looks and see what happens. Let’s see if we can get the other team scrambling.”



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