Wheelchair basketball is a sport played primarily by people with disabilities. In some countries such as Canada, Australia and England, able-bodied athletes are allowed to compete alongside other athletes on mixed teams. It is based in basketball with some adaptations to reflect the presence of the wheelchair, and to harmonize the different levels of disabilities players have. All teams which compete above a recreational level us a classification system to evaluate the functional abilities of players on a point scale of 1 to 4.5. In places where teams are integrated, able-bodied athletes would be classified as a 4.5, and an individual with the highest degree of disability (such as full paraplegia below the chest) would have the classification of 1.0. Classification is an international regulation for playing wheelchair basketball, where competitions restrict the number of points allowable on the court at one time. However, at this time, athletes are only allowed to compete internationally if they have a disability.

Wheelchair basketball retains most major rules and scoring of FIBA basketball, and maintains a 10-foot basketball hoop and standard basketball court. Exceptions include rules modified with consideration for the wheelchair. For example, "travelling" in wheelchair basketball occurs when the athlete touches his wheels more than twice after receiving or dribbling the ball. The individual must pass, bounce or shoot the ball before he or she can touch their wheels again.

Wheelchair basketball has intense competition on the international level, and competitions include the Paralympic Games, an event held for athletes with physical disabilities in the Olympic host city two weeks after the Olympic Games, and the Gold Cup, a qualifying tournament held two years after every paralympics. Major players include Canada, Australia, USA, England, the Netherlands, and Japan.

The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the governing body for this sport.

History

In 1944, Ludwig Guttman through the rehabilitation program at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital, in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, adapted existing sports to use wheelchairs. The World Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Games, in 1947, were the first games to be held.

The first wheelchair basketball games occurred in 1946 in the United States. Since then has spread through the world, and now thousands of athletes play it.

Links

• IWBF home page
• NWBA home page
• FIBA home page