Neuro note #2
On Wednesday, April 26, our class was given the opportunity to attend a Rolling Grizzlies basketball practice. The Rolling Grizzlies are a wheelchair basketball team located in Memphis. I chose this for my assignment because I'm very passionate about adaptive sports and I love learning about all of the opportunities for individuals with disabilities.
The Rolling Grizzlies began practice by warming up, then started some drills. While they were playing, we noticed the different chairs and supports that each individual had. Some had a chair with practically no back on it, so we knew they had to have trunk support. The coach blew the whistle and told everyone to line up for suicides. He blew the whistle again and the players left the baseline as quickly as they could. He blew it again and they changed directions incredibly fast! This continued for the length of the entire court. I was so impressed at how some individuals could maneuver their chair and change directions so quickly. The players that had some trunk control were faster because they could shift in their chairs and use the weight from their trunk up to turn in one fluid motion.
After the drills, the players began to scrimmage. They played tough defense and some very skillful offense. I was amazed at how tough they played. Some of them flipped out of their chairs, and would position themselves to climb up independently, then resume playing. They were able to dribble the ball at the same time they were moving, and one player was even able to dribble behind his back!
I would highly recommend for everyone to visit a wheelchair basketball practice or game. It is a great reminder that just because someone has a spinal cord injury doesn't mean they can't be athletic or competitive. Athleticism is often only attributed to people that have the ability to walk, but wheelchair basketball takes a great amount of athleticism to play. I'm very thankful I got to watch the Rolling Grizzlies practice!
The Rolling Grizzlies began practice by warming up, then started some drills. While they were playing, we noticed the different chairs and supports that each individual had. Some had a chair with practically no back on it, so we knew they had to have trunk support. The coach blew the whistle and told everyone to line up for suicides. He blew the whistle again and the players left the baseline as quickly as they could. He blew it again and they changed directions incredibly fast! This continued for the length of the entire court. I was so impressed at how some individuals could maneuver their chair and change directions so quickly. The players that had some trunk control were faster because they could shift in their chairs and use the weight from their trunk up to turn in one fluid motion.
After the drills, the players began to scrimmage. They played tough defense and some very skillful offense. I was amazed at how tough they played. Some of them flipped out of their chairs, and would position themselves to climb up independently, then resume playing. They were able to dribble the ball at the same time they were moving, and one player was even able to dribble behind his back!
I would highly recommend for everyone to visit a wheelchair basketball practice or game. It is a great reminder that just because someone has a spinal cord injury doesn't mean they can't be athletic or competitive. Athleticism is often only attributed to people that have the ability to walk, but wheelchair basketball takes a great amount of athleticism to play. I'm very thankful I got to watch the Rolling Grizzlies practice!
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