In wheelchair basketball, women play against men

If you’ve got an injury that temporarily keeps you from playing with the able-bodied, you can play wheelchair
basketball.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — On the scoreboard, it was another defeat, 35-30 to the Youngstown Hot Wheels, but coach John Sikora, 54, was awfully proud of his Steel City Starz.

“You did a lot of good things out there today,” Sikora told his players, all wheelchair-bound women. “You should feel good about how you played.”

The Steel City Starz, founded seven years ago, is one of 15 women’s wheelchair basketball teams in the country. With the early December defeat, their record fell to 1-6, but that’s chiefly because they had to play most of their games against men’s teams, Sikora said. There are more than 200 men’s wheelchair basketball teams.

But playing the men should help prepare his ladies for the National Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Tourney, which will be held Feb. 28-March 1 in Warm Springs, Ga., Sikora said.

“It’s tough because there aren’t many women’s teams around, he said. “But we’re getting better every day.”

Wheelchair basketball was started in the United States in 1945 to help rehabilitate veterans with spinal injuries. The National Wheelchair Basketball Association was all male until 1974, when women were permitted to play on formerly all-male teams. Women got a league of their own during the 1990-91 season.

Wheelchair basketball is very like basketball for the able-bodied — except, of course, no dunking. Players use specially designed wheelchairs with cambered wheels, a strong circular frame, and an extra wheel in back to provide stability.

Players shoot, block shots, rebound and dribble. Players are allowed just two pushes on their wheelchair before they must dribble.

“I love the team competition and the sport,” said Leah Gray, 38, of Mount Pleasant, one of the founding members of the Steel City Starz. “It gives me a chance not to act like a lady.”

Any wheelchair-using woman may play for the Starz, Coach Sikora said. “There are no tryouts,” he said. “Anybody who wants to come comes.”

One not even need to use a wheelchair in day-to-day activities to play for the Starz. The National Wheelchair Basketball Association rules permit people who can walk to play in their leagues if they’ve sustained injuries which prevent them from playing in basketball leagues for the able-bodied.

Lorie Hamann, 22, from Steubenville, Ohio, played basketball for Franciscan University in Steubenville until she sustained knee injuries for which she’s had three operations. But she’s in a wheelchair only for games and practices with the Starz.

That puts Hamann at a mild disadvantage compared to daily wheelchair users because she’s not as used to maneuvering a wheelchair, and the muscles used to do so are less developed. “I’m only in a chair for the games,” she said.

Her prior basketball experience makes up for relative unfamiliarity with the wheelchair, Gray said.

“It takes a while to learn how to maneuver the chair, but it’s harder to learn the rules of the game,” she said.

The Starz player who comes the farthest to games is Kaitlyn Willard, 18, who lives in suburban Philadelphia.

“We got up at 3:30 this morning and drove up,” said her mother, Betty Jean. “We’ll play the game and come right back.”

Kaitlyn was born with spina bifida, but hasn’t let that slow her down. She lifts weights and has played wheelchair basketball for eight years. A senior at Upper Darby High School, she is on the track team there with able-bodied youngsters.

“She does all the distances — 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters, the mile,” her mother said. The able-bodied have the advantage in the shorter distances, Kaitlyn said. But in the longer distances, where the wheelchair has time to gain momentum, the advantage shifts to her.