Wheelchair Basketball｜Sit on two rounds leads to infinite possibilities

On the school day, the basketball team of the Hong Kong Disabled Youth Association went to the Baptist University campus to attend promotional activities. Seeing the classmates sitting in distress, but on the one hand they couldn't help showing curiosity.

"Because everyone doesn't know how to use a wheelchair, most of them feel so fresh." said Jason Yang, a member of the newly retired Hong Kong wheelchair basketball team. A group of nearly 10 people took turns to respond to the questions from the school. Seeing that most of the players were pretty young, someone asked: "How old can wheelchair basketball be played?"

The troubles that don't answer

"I... you don't believe me, I'm 61 years old." I couldn't help mentioning age in the first sentence. Jason admitted that he had only retired in the past two years, but he is still following exercises in the Hong Kong team. The bigger reason is: "The Hong Kong team is unmanned and there are no newcomers."

Disabled sports, like general sports, are divided into elite sports and non-elite sports. Wheelchair basketball is the latter. Jason laughed and said that everything is probably tied to performance. "Many athletes would rather choose sports with a high chance of winning. Basketball is a team sports. , After all, it’s a bit difficult.” There are only a few players who are 20-30 years old, most of them are 40-50 years old senior players. The situation of not picking up the blue and yellow seems to be a vicious circle.

Participated in the 5th Asian Games, and won the 5th place in the Sichuan National Games that year. Jason recalled that when he went abroad to compete, his opponent could even be his grandson. Basketball is always young people playing "counting"."

Wheelchair makes the impossible possible

Although the players are in wheelchairs, the requirements for strength and flexibility are quite high, because in addition to the slightly different ball control, other skills such as shooting waves, pick-and-rolls, and fast breaks are also available. The classmates tried to play and seemed quite engaged, because even for those who are accustomed to playing basketball, it is more difficult to sit.

"Playing basketball in a wheelchair makes everything fair." During the introduction, a vaguely heard sentence. Although wheelchairs may be an escape item for ordinary people, it is a gem for many players.

Jason suffers from polio and lacks mobility in his left foot. When he was young, he mainly relied on crutches for his activities, but he was still quite active. "I'm very active in later life. For example, I will go to guard the dragon when I play football, because I don't need to run. I play badminton in my free time, and basketball is only limited to shooting waves." Jason bluntly said that many people with disabilities are not willing to go out more and more. For activities, even if you just go shopping, you will feel that there are too many roads. "Because of the hard work with crutches, many people are willing to go out as soon as they turn to wheelchairs."

However, he also started a new page in his life because of his wheelchair. "When I was in a wheelchair, I came into contact with wheelchair basketball, otherwise I wouldn't know how to play." In his first year, Jason, a clerk, joined the wheelchair basketball team. For more than 20 years, "Because of wheelchair basketball, I know so many good friends, because I have been to a lot of competitions and training camps. Without wheelchair basketball, there will be fewer opportunities to see the world."