Two people from the Association of People with Disabilities (APD) were in the Karnataka state team which bagged the first runner up for this year’s national level rugby championship held in Chattisgarh.
Wheelchair basketball is a sport that can help people with disabilities boost their confidence and improve their mental health, said coach Lee Roy Simon at the wheelchair basketball training camp for people with spinal cord damage, organized by Association of People with Disabilities (APD).
Mahesh, Administrator of APD said that the coaching will be held twice a day for a week. “This coaching is at a basic level. Most of them are just here for therapy. They are understanding their injury and their progress. In between they are doing their sport,” he added.
Lee Roy Simon has been coaching India’s wheelchair basketball women team for three years. He shared the enthusiasm about the coaching camp, “From here people will have a chance to play at club level match, and then get selected to state team.” Ganga Mandel, who won the national wheelchair rugby this year, said that this camp is mainly for new comers. She said that she didn’t expect to play in nationals, “I just play for myself and for my fitness.”
Ganga shared the challenges to play basketball in wheelchair. She said that urination and sitting for a long time is difficult for them. “We have urine collection bags. We need to be more careful.” She said that sitting for a long time leads to soreness and rashes as well. “Despite all these, if we want to do something, we will do it as it provides joy.”
Lee Roy said, “All these people have recently had a spinal cord injury. Wheelchair basketball is a team sport. So to have a community around, people have a safety net.”
He added that wheelchair basketball has brought a lot of changes in many people’s life. He said about one of his players, Jyothi, a farmer’s daughter from Belgavi. “Her parents were willing to pay to get her married. Nobody agreed. She played for India once and got the best player award in nationals,” he said.
Sherin Mathew, senior physiotherapist at APD said that sports benefits the people with disabilities in many ways. “Their aerobic capacity will be increased and their muscle strength will be improved. Their overall endurance and bone density improves as well. Playing in the sun helps get vitamin D, which they usually don’t get,” she added.
