Wheelchair summer league a hit

The National Wheelchair Development League tipped off last week at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra and instantly proved a success by exposing some of the sport’s up and coming stars to additional playing opportunities.

Basketball Australia’s new summer league wheelchair competition features 34 athletes and four coaches participating as members of four teams named after some legends of Australian wheelchair basketball.

Teams saw a mixture of experience from Paralympians through to players with only one to two years of National Wheelchair Basketball League experience.

Sides were selected to provide the opportunity for players and coaches to have a competitive experience and develop their skills to the next level.

The closest result amongst the hard-fought games in the opening round came from the match between Brad Ness Golds and John Turich Reds.  Ness had a chance to snatch a point victory in the dying seconds with a Grant Mizens (Rollerhawks) breakaway layup, but were unable to convert.

Veterans like Nick Taylor (Razorbacks), Brett Stibners (Rollerhawks), Grant Mizens  and Tige Simmons (Spinning Bullets) showed their class. 

Under 23 players Nick Radovich (Wheelcats), Adam Deans (Wheelcats), Chris Barty (Wheelcats), Jannik Blair (Rangers), Colin Smith (Razorbacks), Luke Watkins (Thunder) and Luke Popel (Rollerhawks) also relished the increased games time and the chance to show their full repertoire of skills. 

Rollers development players Jeremy Doyle (Rollerhawks), Erik Horrie (Spinning Bullets) also had a chance to match skills against the established players while CJ Grogan (Wheelkings)  and Josh Christian (Tasmania) also impressed as they matched many of their older opponents at both ends of the floor.

“Players enjoyed the aspect of playing with different players and getting to know them on and off the court, and appreciated the input that different coaches to their regular NWBL coach could provide them with,” said Rollers Australian men’s national wheelchair head coach Ben Ettridge.

The second round will be on the weekend of 19/20/21 March at the AIS again with Semi Finals to be played on Saturday night at 4:00PM and 5:30PM and the final playoffs at 8:30AM and 10:00 AM on Sunday.   Spectators are welcome to attend and entry is free.

For full Round One results and the Round Two fixture, click here.