What is classification and why is it important?
The Victorian Wheelchair Football League (VWFL) classification is the grouping of players into 5 classes, based on the player’s use of their trunk, lower limbs and upper limbs when undertaking actions required to play AFL wheelchair: pushing the wheelchair, braking and pivoting, handballing, passing, marking and catching, and reacting to contact.
A classification system in wheelchair sport ensures fairness for all players. From an individual perspective, a player will have the same chance of being on the playing field regardless of their level of impairment. From a team perspective, classification creates a system whereby all teams have players of similar impairment, which stops a league being dominated by a team made up of players with less impairment.
How was the VWFL classification system developed?
The VWFL based its classification system on that of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF). The IWBF have developed a robust classification system, which has been constantly refined since the late 1980’s. The IWBF have gifted the intellectual property of this system to the VWFL in the spirit of developing disability sport. Consultation also took place with players within the VWFL and AFL Clubs to determine this approach.
The following modifications to the IWBF system were made to use this system in AFL wheelchair:
- The IWBF half-point classifications were removed, creating a system of 1-5 points.
- Classes were modified to reflect football-specific tasks, such as handballing and picking the ball from the floor.
- For the 2020 VWFL season, the total points assigned to a team of five players on court must not exceed 16 – they may be below 16.
How will players be classified?
VWFL classification is based on observation. All players will be observed during pre-draft training sessions. During the training sessions, the classifiers will meet with each player and ask about their disability. Players do not need to bring any medical information to these training sessions.
At the end of the training the classifiers either confirm the players classifications or defer the decision until further observation. In the unlikely event that a player’s classification cannot be confirmed during the pre-draft training sessions, further observation will take place in the post-draft round robin competition and a provisional classification will be applied for the purposes of the VWFL Draft.
What are the classifiers looking at?
The range, strength and coordination of a player’s trunk, lower limbs, and upper limbs are taken into consideration when classifying. First, these are looked at as individual components, and then as they impact actual football situations of pushing the wheelchair, braking and pivoting, handballing, passing, marking and catching, and reacting to contact.
Players with lower limb deficiencies are generally classified on how a decreased length of a residual limb may result in decreased range and strength in football situations.
To classify the player with an upper limb impairment, the classifiers first place the player into a class according to lower limb and trunk function. The classifiers then consider the severity and significance of the upper limb impairment when the player is in a game situation.
Concession points
Players with impairment who are 1. female, or 2. aged under 18 will receive a 1-point concession to focus on the development of players within these targeted groups. A player can only use one deduction point.
Table 1. Examples of trunk function and AFL Wheelchair action of each class
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Trunk function
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AFL Wheelchair example – Handball
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Class 1
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Generally, a 1 point player sits back into their backrest. They have little or no control of their trunk when they lean forward, and no control when they lean sideways. They have no active rotation of the trunk.
When they are unbalanced, they use their arms on their wheelchair or knees to return to an upright position.
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- Typically leans back into the backrest to counterbalance when handballing.
- A handball is accompanied by a backward movement of the head and shoulders to maintain an upright position.
- Lack of rotation of the trunk limits the ability to generate power in the handball.
- Often overbalances during follow through requiring arm support to remain upright.
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Class 2
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A 2 point player has active control of their upper trunk, but not the lower trunk. They can actively rotate their upper trunk without using their hands on the chair. They have partial controlled movement when they lean forward. They have no controlled sideways trunk movements.
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- A handball is performed with minimal loss of stability, but the lower trunk is not used to gain power.
- Able to lean the upper trunk forward for handballing, but more often remains on the backrest, particularly for longer range handballs.
- Can rotate the upper trunk towards the intended handball recipient if the lower trunk is supported by the backrest.
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Class 3
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A 3 point player has complete control of their trunk to rotate and lean forward from the backrest. They have no controlled sideways trunk movements and use their hands on their wheelchair or knees to return to upright when they reach out into this area.
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- A handball is performed with no loss of stability using forward motion of the trunk to gain maximum power and momentum.
- Can rotate their full trunk towards the intended handball recipient unsupported by the backrest.
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Class 4
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A 4 point player has complete control of their trunk to rotate and lean forward from the backrest. They have complete sideways trunk movement to at least one side.
These players generally have good lower limb function.
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- Able to handball forward without support from the wheelchair.
- Can rotate their full trunk towards the intended handball recipient unsupported by the backrest.
- Able to actively move their trunk to at least one side to handball and return to an upright position without loss of stability.
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Class 5
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A 5 point player has no identified impairments.
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- A player with no impairments
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A manual with additional information relating to the VWFL Classification Framework is currently being developed.
For more information relating to the VWFL Classification Framework, please contact the VWFL Chief Classifer Lisa Chaffey on lisach@ffey.com.au or 0425 600 038.
