National Wheelchair Basketball Association
They've got game, too!
By Leslie
Feinberg
The strong, skilled athletes race up and down the court,
focused on the basketball and the hoop. Their games are
breathlessly exciting. But you don't see them on
television--not yet, anyway.
These women and men--playing together on the same teams--are
members of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association.
Their awesome abilities as basketball players shine a bright
light on the extent to which lack of accessibility in society
disables people who face physical challenges.
Workers World talked to Gene Clancy, a 58-year-old member of
the "Rochester Wheels," about the league and about disabled
issues.
Clancy explained: "Disabled World War II veterans started
the National Wheelchair Basketball Association in 1944-1945, as
a form of recreation and therapy for disabled people. The
number of teams varies, but there are about 150-160 teams
nationwide."
The Rochester Wheels plays in the Keystone Conference, made
up of eight teams, mostly in western New York and western
Pennsylvania.
As is true in other leagues, the season is grueling. "Last
year we played 20 games, 24 if the conference tournament is
included," Clancy said. "Teams may play more if they go on to
the playoffs."
The season normally runs from early October to early
February.
"There are a number of divisions just as in college
basketball, based on the level of play. There is a youth
division as well," Clancy noted. "Also a women's division. But
women are free to participate in all divisions and many do.
"Although our team has no women players at present, several
of our opponent teams do. They play with exactly the same
rules, classifications, etc., and many are starters on their
teams."
Playing by the same rules
The rules for wheelchair basketball are basically the same
as for NCAA college basketball. The baskets are the same
height. The 3-point line and foul line are the same
distance.
But Clancy said other rules are specific to wheelchair
basketball. For example, instead of steps, a player is allowed
two pushes on the wheel of her or his chair between dribbles.
After the second push, the player must dribble, pass or
shoot.
The wheelchair is considered part of a player's body. To
grab or crash into a chair is a foul.
Players are allowed four seconds in the key lane in front of
the basket instead of three seconds. When shooting a 3-point or
foul shot, the front wheels of the wheelchair may be over the
line, but the rear wheels must be behind the line.
A player can never use her or his legs to gain an advantage
over another player. This penalty--called Unfair Physical
Advantage--is a technical foul.
In addition, each player in the NWBA is classified on a
point system according to the degree of her or his disability:
high-level quadriplegic, low- to mid-level quadriplegic, or
amputee--low-level paraplegic with stomach muscles.
A team may not have a combination of more than 13 points
based on these classifications on the floor at one time. So,
for example, if there were four players with class-3
disability, the fifth player must be a class-1.
This point system serves as a kind of affirmative-action
program to ensure participation by more severely disabled
players. It is to a team's advantage to have team members with
high levels of disability who play well.
Some but not all of the paid referees are disabled. However,
Clancy stressed: "All of our players and coaches are disabled.
But able-bodied people are permitted to play if they adhere to
the rules."
Rochester Wheels
"We started a youth team--the Roch ester Rockets--last
year," Clancy said, "with an approximately equal number of boys
and girls. Ages on the youth team range from about 8 to 16."
Some youths also play on the adult team, he added.
Despite the rigors of basketball, Clancy explained that on
the adult team, player's ages range from about 16 to 58 years.
"We have one player who has played wheelchair basketball for
over 25 years," he noted.
Clancy added: "Our team is multinational. We have three
African Americans and one Asian player on the adult team, and
several Latino players on the youth team. This tends to be the
same for other teams, depending sometimes on their geographical
location--whether it's urban, rural, etc.
"Most of our players work at other jobs," Clancy continued,
"an accomplishment considering the barriers that exist for
disabled workers." As a result, these disabled worker/players
are able to talk to students, particularly disabled students,
about career choices and other issues facing disabled
youths.
The team reaches out to youths of all abilities. "We often
go to high schools and colleges to do exhibition games. These
are accompanied by discussions by team members of disability
issues, as well as in some cases, drug and alcohol
counseling--particularly drunk driving."
Often the audience is the members of the varsity basketball
team or a fraternity/ sorority or students from a physical
education class. Clancy described a particularly effective way
of sensitizing youths to respect the skills and challenges of
disabled athletes.
"We usually put the able-bodied people in wheelchairs, where
they are of course at a disadvantage," Clancy said with a
gentle smile. "Shooting baskets, especially from the foul line
or long distance, is much more difficult sitting down. And for
them the mobility is so much harder compared to us as
experienced wheelchair users.
"It is all done in good fun," Clancy said. But it is a great
learning tool, he added.
"Typically, during the first half we play them easy, give
them extra shots, and allow them four points for each basket.
Then during the second half, we spot them an extra 50-60 points
and show off our skills.
"It is a great way to build sensitivity, awareness and
solidarity. We sometimes get rather large crowds at these
exhibitions, often more than our regular league games."
When the rules are stacked
against you
"In society as a whole, as in basketball," Clancy said, "the
'usefulness' of people--including disabled people--is partially
defined by the 'rules of the game.'
"In an economy based on profits first and people last,
disabled people suffer a special oppression. The oppression we
face is not from our disability, but from the lack of access in
society."
Clancy stressed that disabled people suffer from
discrimination in employment. This has resulted in high rates
of unemployment, poverty and lack of health insurance.
"Another caveat," Clancy explained, "is paternalism,
especially on the part of the government and many private
agencies."
He said that's why "disabled people benefit from
affirmative-action programs. That's why it's so important to
struggle to defend the affirmative-action programs that
exist--for nationally oppressed people, for women and for the
disabled."
The disabled community, Clancy pointed out, "is cut by lines
of economic class, gender and nationality. However, solidarity
can be built around mutual support and resistance to a common
oppression."
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
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