The History and the Basic of Wheelchair Basketball

The origin of wheelchair basketball and other wheelchair sports is still considered as an unresolved issue. Many people believe that it started in 1946 during the Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Games. Stoke Mandeville was actually a hospital that arranged a competition for their disabled patients. In that year, there were twenty-six patients participated in the games.

In 1956, wheelchair basketball was added and a team called the Pan Am Jets was the first winner in the competition. In 1973, the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation or IWBF was formed and this organization still oversees the sport today.

Differences between regular and wheelchair basketball

Many rules in the wheelchair basketball are similar and based on the rules of regular basketball. Standard court markings are used as well as a ten-foot basket. Perhaps the most glaring difference is the rules about traveling. Regular basketball defines traveling as the act of moving both feet while holding the basketball. This rule is related to the double-dribbling error, which means that a player stops dribbling, holds the ball, and starts dribbling again. Obviously this rule cannot be implemented in the wheelchair basketball games and thus need to be modified. In a wheelchair basketball, a traveling happens when the player touches his wheels more than twice after receiving or dribbling the ball. Players have to pass, bounce, or shoot before they can touch the wheels again.

There is a player classification system in a regulated wheelchair basketball games. There is a number system from 1 to 5 for a player that classifies the severity of the handicap. In this case, a player who is almost completely paralyzed is classified as a 1.0 while an able-bodied and non-paralyzed person is classified as a 5.0. This shows the popularity of wheelchair basketball since the games allows a non-paralyzed person to participate. The purpose of this classification system is to make sure the fairness of the games and to balance the teams.

The excellent thing about wheelchair basketball is that anyone can play the games. IWBF has stated that it is unnecessary for a person to be confined in a wheelchair to participate. If you are indeed a person confined in a wheelchair, this is a great games to be played and an excellent method to do some exercise. You should still have fun, even if you a disabled individual and a wheelchair basketball is a good way to have fun.

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