I didn't hesitate to choose the Iowa Chairiots, Iowa's only NWBA sanctioned wheelchair basketball team, for my final project. Last spring, I played in their annual charity game at the UI when I was on Iowa's Women's Rowing team, and, at the risk of sounding cliche, it changed my perspective on life.
The Iowa Chairiots (photo from cedarrapids.kijiji.com)
Every year for the past 21 years, the Iowa Chairiots come to Iowa City and play against a mixed group of Iowa Varsity athletes from various teams to raise money for different charities. Last year, about four athletes each from football, wrestling, gymnastics, women's soccer, women's basketball and rowing participated in the event as volunteers.
Before the game, Chairiots players mingled with the Hawkeyes, explaining the rules of the game and giving pointers. As someone who had never sat in a wheelchair before, I was completely out of my element and nervous about making a fool of myself in front of my peers. But very quickly, I noticed how helpful the Chairiots players were in explaining the rules of the game and some strategies to playing.
One of the most difficult aspects of playing wheelchair basketball is dribbling. The rule is that you have two rolls of the wheel and then must dribble, which sounds easy enough, but it's extremely difficult to dribble to the side of the chair or out front without losing the ball, especially in a game where you are playing against a team with a lot of experience.
Check out this video tutorial from YouTube for a better explanation and demonstration of the legal forms of dribbling in wheelchair basketball.
Dribbling is not the only challenging aspect of the game. Shooting and catching a pass are near impossible for someone as uncoordinated as myself. Some of the Hawkeye athletes seemed to do pretty well with these two aspects, but in general, our efforts were an epic failure. The aspect of catching a pass and shooting that is the most difficult to adjust to is the inability to use leverage from your legs. It is entirely upper body for shooting and relying on your teammates' ability to pass on target in order to catch a pass.
Another great video tutorial on shooting in wheelchair basketball from YouTube.
Furthermore, maneuvering an unfamiliar form of transportation, especially in such a fast paced and aggressive game, proved difficult. Not only are you trying to keep your eye on the ball and your teammates, but you must watch out for other players so as not to mow someone over. At points during the game, there were crashes (mainly between two Hawkeyes, which proved to be rather amusing).
Through my participation in the game, I learned to appreciate every athlete as an equally talented and competitive person while gaining a new set of what I would loosely call 'skills'. I wish that everyone could have had the opportunity that I did to play in this game, or to even try a new sport against a competitive team, especially if it's a sport that you wouldn't normally think twice about.
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