Willing and able in a wheely big first for basketball

Alex de Vos
Basketballers used to running and dribbling up and down courts are taking on Geelong’s best wheelchair players and beating them at their own game.
For the first time in Victoria, wheelchair players have been integrated into able-bodied competitions in the city, provided their opponents also compete in wheelchairs.
Tournament organiser Kay Colman said the new weekly competition was designed to “break down the barriers” between disabled and able-bodied players.
“It’s also about giving our young people more sporting opportunities and our wheelchair players more court time,” Ms Colman said.
“The concept is being well-received by players and has appealed to people looking to give their game a little edge or a new angle.”
Ms Colman said all the players in the competition “were having a ball”.
“Everyone’s a winner,” she said.
“It’s given the wheelies a new lease of life and the regular players are having so much fun. Initially they approached it with a little bit of trepidation but now they’re off.
“Last week they won – gradually they’ve sussed it out.”
Ms Colman, whose son Richard is a Geelong paralympian, said the same basketball rules applied to the wheelchair version but with an exception to the “travelling rule”.
She urged able-bodied players interested in sign ing up for the Tuesday night competition to phone her on 0427 442 909.