Can American wheelchair basketball go pro?

CHARLOTTE (Steve Goldberg's Wheel World) - Not unlike soccer for a long time, when American and Canadian athletes wanted to play wheelchair basketball at the highest professional level, they had to go overseas.

The self-proclaimed "Land of Opportunity" couldn't offer what Germany, Italy, Spain and Turkey could for the world class wheelchair basketball player, which was the chance to play the game for pay, to dedicate every day to perfecting their craft. For club, and more so for country on the stage of world championship and Paralympic glory.

To be fair, on talent alone, I would match up the top NWBA Championship Division teams with the top international clubs any day but when it comes to preparation and attitude, there must be a distinct advantage to the time, focus, and consistency of training and games that a professional set-up allows.

Those same advantages have been the draw for international players in coming to play collegiate ball in the U.S. where basketball is a full-time job combined with the value of achieving a university degree. (That's sort of professional though the NCAA would be loathe to admit it.)

But what comes after that? The real world, that's what. With rent and bills and all sorts of distracting responsibility. Though the financial definition of amateurism itself is no longer a constraint to Olympic and Paralympic athletes, the ability to earn a living while training full-time for their sport are conflicting objectives for most.

On the Paralympic side, only wheelchair road racing and some Grand Prix associated track events, along with the unique wheelchair tennis tournaments offer prize money that can be the basis of a career. Individual sponsorship helps that but is rare, especially for team sport athletes.

So, that's why top players such as Americans Steve Serio, Matt Scott and Mike Paye, and Canadians including Patrick Anderson, Joey Johnson and Nik Goncin have all had to leave home at some point to make a living playing the game. The same can be said, for players from Australia and Great Britain, two other top flight, medal winning countries without professional options for players such as Tristan Knowles, Troy Sachs, Jon Pollock, and Ian Sagar over the years, just to name a few.

Can success in Rio lead to success in launching a professional wheelchair basketball league in the United States? Photo by Steve Goldberg/SCS Media

I spoke with Jeff Roberson, one of the men behind the league, this week to get a clearer picture of what they want to accomplish.

As the CEO of the proposed league, he comes into the effort with a background in amateur basketball, working with AAU clubs, and last year guided the Oregon-based Rogue Valley Scorpions to a fourth-place finish in last season's NWBA Championship Division at the national tournament. He's also developing a representation agency for adaptive athletes.

The president and co-founder is Keith Avant, a military veteran who came to the wheelchair version of the game after developing mobility issues.

Roberson is clearly dedicated and ambitious about what they hope to achieve with the PWBL. Their plan calls for a for-profit franchised league of at least eight investor-owned teams playing a 28-game regular season schedule.

Developing the concept since February of 2015, they've aligned with an organization that advises franchisors in developing the business plan and the website briefly outlines areas that the PWBL will assist the franchise owners.

An important aspect of the PWBL says Roberson in regard to the exposure it would provide for adaptive sport is that, "we are not only trying to run a business but it's one that can affect social change."

In a statement from NWBA Executive Director Jim Scherr, the governing body of wheelchair basketball in the U.S. has declined to partner with the organizers but supports their effort.

"The National Wheelchair Basketball Association supports the growth of wheelchair basketball at all levels and we wish Competitive Edge Sports well as it works to launch the Professional Wheelchair Basketball League providing these outstanding athletes with an opportunity to compete at the professional level in the United States." -Scherr

That's quite understandable considering the current restructuring of the NWBA, the world's first wheelchair basketball organization, as it updates to the necessities of modern sports governance and organization.

The PWBL has also received a lot of interest from the players who would benefit from it such as the aforementioned Matt Scott who is currently playing in Italy after several seasons in Turkey.

"To pursue an athletic career I had to move to Europe to play, and am currently rostered on a team in Italy. In fact, a vast majority of our national team and most talented and unique players are competing abroad." - Scott

Scott's endorsement continued. "I am writing this letter with high hopes that a new league can be formed in order to make my dream possible to compete in the game that I cherish so dearly in the country I love with all my heart. Playing professional wheelchair basketball in the United States would be an absolute dream come true!"

Roberson declined to talk specifically to the numbers that will be pertinent to the new league which he projected to be up and running by the 2017-18 season. At this point in time, I can respect that and I am very much in favor of seeing this endeavor succeed but my experience in professional sports and business along with the general skepticism that’s required of a journalist begs many questions to the viability of the PWBL.

Crowds like this one at a recent wheelchair basketball game in Oregon would be critical to the success of the PWBL. Photo courtesy of PWBL Enterprises.

The biggest difference between the American market and the professional structure in Europe is more cultural. While there may be a few independent wheelchair basketball teams, most fall under the club system that dominates all of European sport, with wheelchair basketball being born into that. Others are funded by disability-related organizations.

Building a professional team and the organizational structure that's needed to service it as a standalone may not be financially feasible.

The recent success of the USA national teams in Brazil and the commensurate television coverage that finally received will be helpful but not the extent that the FIFA Women's World Cup helped spawn the first professional women's soccer league here. With all that momentum, it still failed. But another has been built from the embers of that.

Is now the time for professional wheelchair basketball in the United States? Why not? How it will work, if it will at all, remains to be seen.

Steve Goldberg

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.

To help make this column as inclusive as possible, please send any national or international event information, story suggestions, or comments to wheelworldmail@gmail.com.