Paralympic athlete, star of 'Murderball' to speak

During an appearance at Grand Valley State University, one of the stars from "Murderball," a documentary that chronicles the efforts of the U.S. paralympic rugby team and its quest for gold in 2004, will shatter stereotypes of people with disabilities.

Mark Zupan will speak to staff and students on Wednesday, March 22, from 4:30-6 p.m. in the Cook-DeWitt Center on GVSU's Allendale Campus. The event is part of the Professionals of Color Lecture Series sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

Zupan, a quadriplegic who has been in a wheelchair since he was 18, started playing wheelchair rugby, or murderball, in 1996. He quickly embraced the game's hard-hitting action and, after graduating from Georgia Tech in 1999, moved to Austin, Texas, to join the Texas Stampede and later the U.S. paralympic team. Quad rugby combines the finesse of soccer with the bone-jarring collisions of a demolition derby. The athletes use custom wheelchairs.

A rising star in the sport, Zupan was named U.S. Quad Rugby Association Athlete of the Year in 2002 and has earned four MVP awards at tournaments around the country. The 30-year-old civil engineer is now training for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.