India's Wheelchair Basketball Program gets Red Cross Boost

GREATER NOIDA (India) – Often spoken of as a ‘sleeping giant’ in basketball, India’s wheelchair hoops program has definitely woken up.

This was evidenced by the South Asian country organizing its first-ever international wheelchair basketball tournament last month.

“This tournament enhanced the hopes of many persons with disabilities in India to take up sports. The more people hear about the opportunities and benefits of playing a sport the more people are engaged,” Lee Roy Simon, Secretary General of Wheelchair Basketball Federation of India (WBFI) told FIBA Foundation, in an exclusive interview.

Thanks to crucial funding support from the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), besides hosts India, men and women teams from seven Asian countries – Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia, and Libya– took part.

Wheelchair Basketball: On the Rise in India and Asia

“Asia has seen tremendous growth in wheelchair basketball over the past couple of decades,” confirmed Jess Markt, ICRC’s Global Head of its Disability Sport & Inclusion programs. Speaking about India in particular, Markt said:

“India has a great future in wheelchair basketball, which can be seen in the fact that it has grown from a handful of players in 2014 – when the Wheelchair Basketball Federation of India was formed and when I first came with some other international coaches to train the initial group – to over 700 today!”

 WBFI’s vision and mission is to “facilitate mass following and participation in wheelchair basketball”. It is doing so by conducting more games and introductory camps throughout the year, partnering with schools, colleges and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

“The most important challenge is lack of awareness about this sport and the possibility of playing it by all the eligible persons with disabilities,” Simon said, while expressing gratitude to ICRC for its assistance in this regard, helping WBFI take the sport across India’s different states.

Role of Sports in ICRC’s Service Delivery Mechanisms

Mostly known for its work in protecting victims of armed conflict, ICRC has, in fact, been “integrating adaptive sport into its service delivery”, as Markt put it, since 2012, beginning with Afghanistan.

 Highlighting the growing importance of sports within ICRC’s Physical Rehabilitation Program for persons with disabilities, Markt noted that the initiative now supports 22 countries and “promotes sport at three levels – local, national, and international – with a view to creating opportunity for any potential athletes with disabilities to participate at the competitive level that best suits their goals and talents.”

 Wheelchair Basketball in India: All About Inclusion & Equality

Prioritizing monetary investment in wheelchair basketball remains challenging, especially in developing countries where funding is inadequate even for able-bodied athletes. That’s where events like India’s first international wheelchair basketball tournament offer cause for optimism.

Underlining the impact of the 1^st International Wheelchair Basketball Tournament on fans and spectators – who spoke “a lot about inclusion and equality”, Simon said:

“Different stakeholders like Govt. officials and technical officials were able to watch the performance of our players and understand their potential through this tournament…It’s a wonder for the people who watched for the first time as they never expected wheelchair users to play such a dynamic and energetic game.”

 “With organizations like the FIBA Foundation, the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation, and others, the sky is the limit for basketball, for people of all abilities,” Markt concluded with confidence.

***

The FIBA Foundation is the social and legacy arm of FIBA that addresses the role of sports and particularly basketball in society, preserving and promoting basketball’s values and its cultural heritage.

The FIBA Foundation believes that basketball has the power to empower, educate and inspire youth and facilitates this by implementing Basketball For Good projects around the world.

FIBA