Metal and Muscle Tournament

Although I miss rugby a lot, Morey doesn't exactly have the same feelings. He likes all my teammates but doesn't miss the noise, chaos and cramped quarters that usually accompanies rugby. I still go to practices on occasion but I usually leave Morey at home to sleep on my bed instead of the hard gym floor.

Houston hosts a big Metal and Muscle tournament each year that includes numerous adapted sports events and clinics. This year they had rugby, basketball and power soccer and clinics for tennis, sitting volleyball, rowing and racing. It is fun to watch all the different sports and try out new ones.

This year I went to watch and since my roommate (usually Morey's dog sitter) was going as well, Morey got to come along for the weekend. Everyone was glad to see him since he has been an honorary member of the team for several years. Morey and I also got to catch up with a lot of the teams who were also competing which was fun because I hadn't seen a lot of them since last year. A lot of people in the rugby world have service dogs and unfortunately a lot of them aren't very well behaved but Morey is very well respected by many of the athletes and team volunteers.

Each team has an equipment area where we store all our equipment and chairs and that is where we spent a lot of time hanging out. At game time however, we bring our extra tires, water, etc. to the court and Morey got to come along for that as well. I brought him a rug to lay on but although he looked like he was sleeping I could tell he was still alert and aware of everything going on around him. When we finally got back to the hotel the first time he jumped straight on the bed and went right to sleep!

Hotels downtown can sometimes be a problem because there isn't always grass available for Morey to "hurry". Thankfully the hotel where we stayed had a nice landscaped area near the entrance that served as a very nice area for Morey to do his business. There was also space inside the convention center for him to play ball and get some exercise. One of activities happening at the tournament was a wheelchair obstacle course set up with different obstacles- such as steps, ramps and different surfaces- to navigate over and around. One evening after all the events were over Morey and I borrowed the course and turned it into an agility course. He had fun running up the ramps and enjoyed jumping on the mattress and stepping through the bungie cords stretched across a wooden frame. I can tell his agility training has given him more confidence in navigating new situations and it was fun to see him figure out how to move through each obstacles. There were also a few little kids playing on it so it turned into an event for dogs, kids and wheelchairs!

I am glad I wasn't the only one who got to try new things at the Metal and Muscle tournament!