The league's 2026 route
Scottsdale was the second stop on Move United’s 2026 USA Wheelchair Football League regular-season route. The four-stop circuit also includes Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas; Chicago’s tournament was completed in late August, while the Atlanta and Dallas events are scheduled for early October and November, according to Move United.
The Scottsdale tournament was held at WestWorld in collaboration with Ability360. Six teams competed, including the Arizona Cardinals wheelchair football team, according to FOX 10 Phoenix. The event was held alongside Abilities Expo Phoenix, which offered adaptive technology, workshops and community services.
A rule set built for wheelchair play
USA Wheelchair Football League games are played on a 76-yard by 22-yard hard surface with 8-yard end zones. Each game has four 15-minute quarters. Contact is adapted for wheelchair play, with tackling completed by placing one hand above the ball carrier's waist, according to the Lakeshore Foundation.
Scottsdale’s broader accessibility work
The WestWorld event took place within a broader city accessibility effort. According to the City of Scottsdale’s May 2026 ADA Transition Plan, the city has pursued curb-ramp and right-of-way upgrades, facility and park retrofits, and digital-access improvements as part of a citywide program for people with disabilities.
City records also show that Scottsdale commissioned planning and design in 2015 for approximately 4.5 miles of multi-use paths and trails near WestWorld. That was a separate infrastructure effort from the 2026 wheelchair-football tournament, according to a Scottsdale City Council report.
The league also uses a functional classification system that rates athletes from 1.0 to 5.0 according to physical movement capability. A team may have no more than 21 total classification points among its seven active players. Tournament travel rosters are capped at 14 players, and at least three players on each team must be military veterans, according to Lakeshore Foundation guidelines.
A national program with Arizona roots
Move United launched the league in 2020 with grant support connected to an NFL-Bob Woodruff Foundation Salute to Service partnership. The program has expanded from four founding teams to 15 nationwide and has involved more than 1,000 participants, according to Move United.
Ability360 is one of the four teams that began the league, and its Phoenix-based Sports & Fitness Center continues to provide a local base for adaptive sports programming. The organization describes itself as a Center for Independent Living serving people with disabilities throughout Arizona, according to Ability360.
What comes after the regular season
The USAWFL schedules major events around the NFL calendar, including a Veteran All-Star Game during NFL Draft week and a Championship Game during Super Bowl week. The championship tradition began in 2022, and the Dallas Cowboys won the 2024 title, according to the Bob Woodruff Foundation.
With the Scottsdale stop complete, the regular-season circuit continues toward Atlanta in early October and Dallas in November. Those events will conclude the 2026 schedule before the league's championship-focused events return to the NFL calendar.
