Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people that have some kind of physical disability such as birth defects, paralysis, amputations or spina bifida, amongst others. This sport is regulated by the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) and it is included in the Paralympic Games. Another important competition of the wheelchair basketball is the IWBF World Championship.
All of the players of wheelchair basketball have got a number depending on their physical disability. This number can go from 1 to 4.5, where having a number 1 means having a high physical disability, and having a 4.5 means having almost no disability at all. Therefore, the five players that are playing at the same time cannot have a total number higher than 14.
Wheelchair basketball is considered to be more technical than the ‘conventional’ basketball. This is due to the difficulties it presents and the different ways of playing it. The wheelchair needs to be perfectly controlled in order to obtain some advantage from the rivals while playing. The blocks are also more difficult to be made and to be defended, and they are very used in every attack. The shot is also very different because it has to be made from a wheelchair, so the technique varies.
Wheelchair basketball is not one of the most played or watched sports, so there are still some unknown aspects about it. However, it is never too late to learn some new facts about this sport.
The European Federation of Wheelchair Basketball releases each year a ranking of the best leagues in Europe. In order to do so, they have some special punctuations that they follow to assess the different leagues depending on the clubs that play in them.
Even though Spain is on the first position of the ranking, the audience of the Spanish basketball in the television is very different between ‘conventional’ basketball and wheelchair basketball. The final match of the ‘Copa del Rey’ of ‘conventional’ basketball can reach 1,980,000 spectators in average, whereas the final match of the ‘Copa del Rey’ of wheelchair basketball reaches 36,700 spectators in average.
Juan Carlos GarcÃa, trainer of LegaBasket, explains the difficulties of this sport and argues that new media are giving voice to them, such as La voz inclusiva.
LEGABASKET
LegaBasket is a wheelchair basketball team from Leganés, in Madrid, that plays in the ‘Segunda División Nacional’. Juan Carlos GarcÃa explains what are the main aspects he likes about LegaBasket, the group they have, and wheelchair basketball as a whole.
BenjamÃn Varea, a player of LegaBasket that has got spina bifida, has explained his view of wheelchair basketball from his own perspective:
Yeray Muñoz, who also plays for LegaBasket with an amputated leg, describes his point of view on this sport:
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