Wheelchair Basketball

Wheelchair basketball is played on a regular sized basketball court, with five players on each side competing in specially designed sports chairs that maximise the speed and agility required to play this fast-paced sport.

The game is played in four quarters, exactly the same as in the running game, where players must compete to score the most baskets. Movement up the court is measured in dribbling – that’s one bounce for every two pushes of the chair in the wheelchair game!

To ensure fairness across the game, much like other disability sports wheelchair basketball utilises a classification system. Classification is based on the players' functional capacity to complete the skills necessary to play - pushing, pivoting and shooting. Each player is assigned a classification number, and the total points on the court at any time for one team is a maximum of nine. This ensures that the level of play on court is balanced and that everyone can take part.

In the UK, the National Governing Body for the sport is British Wheelchair Basketball, who run the domestic leagues (made up of 85 teams!) and GB Performance teams.

Did You Know?

• Wheelchair basketball is one of the world's oldest Para sports, and was one of the 'original eight' at the first Paralympic Games in Rome 1960.
  
• Wheelchair basketball is a contact sport – given the speed of play on court and manoeuvres required to outwit and out speed opponents, it can be difficult to brake in time! Some contact is permitted, but head-on collisions are not allowed and could lead to ejection from the game.
  
• The UK is home to the Stoke Mandeville Stadium, which has become known as the ‘home of wheelchair sport’ and the ‘birthplace of the Paralympic Games’. Wheelchair basketball was featured in the first ever edition of these games as a rehabilitation exercise for injured servicemen and women.
  

Location

The Ball Park at Loughborough University

Venue Location