BASKETBALL and WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL
We have changed our March edition basketball and wheelchair basketball articles to help you plan ahead for when we can all get out and about again.
Basketball England has given us all the information in this article just for you, the bsporty readers!
Basketball is one of the most popular team sports in the UK, with over 300,000 people playing the game and over 33,000 players competing across 700 local and national leagues. Basketball continues to grow every year with more and more children taking up the sport.
How do you get involved in basketball?
There are a number of ways to get involved in basketball at any age. Sessions are run for specific ages and abilities and even if you haven’t picked up a ball, that doesn’t matter! All of these ways to get involved are designed for people who have and haven’t played before.
Local club (various ages)
You can get involved straightaway into club basketball! Clubs have sessions and games to meet various levels of abilities and ages. Clubs will have information on when they are hoping to run sessions again.
Slam Jam (Primary school)
This introduces primary school aged children into basketball with exciting and fun basketball sessions! You also get your own basketball to take home and practice.
https://www.basketballengland.co.uk/get-involved/play/types-of-basketball/slam-jam/
Jr. NBA (Yr7 and Yr8 through schools)
Basketball England and the NBA (in America) have created the Jr.NBA. This is school based for Year 7 and Year 8 children where the school becomes an NBA team for the year! There are various games throughout the year (plus you get to wear some NBA branded vests). Ask your school if this is available for you and if not, why not ask to set up a team?
All Girls
This is a campaign, run nationally, to promote basketball and increase opportunities for women and girls of all ages and abilities.
Basketball will be one of the sports at the Olympics in 2021. Keep an eye out for out some of the world best players such as Kevin Durant, Luka Doncic and Lebron James showing what they can do with a basketball!
Wheelchair Basketball
We have changed our previous article on this great sport as so many events have had to be cancelled. However, it still gives you some great information to plan the sports you may want to play.
“ Wheelchair basketball is a fun, fast-paced and exciting sport, and it’s one of the most popular spectator sports at the Paralympic Games. The game brings together a combination of speed, skill, agility, balance and tactics and is contested by two teams of five players.
Played on a standard sized basketball court, including the same height basket, it is played in four 10 minute quarters and teams have 24 seconds from taking possession of the ball to making an attempt on the basket.”
British Wheelchair Basketball Association
Wheelchair basketball is a fantastic game and there are great opportunities for your age group to learn and take part.
The best way to get started is through the British Basketball Skills Camps.
Skills Camps
These are fun, regional sessions held across the UK aimed at getting young people involved in the sport and to develop skills.
Skills Camps are fun, exciting days, packed full of wheelchair basketball – a brilliant opportunity to try the sport for the first time or for existing young players to develop their skills further.
‘Glow in the Dark’ Wheelchair Basketball is also an experience not to be missed – play wheelchair basketball in the dark with fluorescent fun, face-paint and music.
Anyone interested can email skillscamp@britishwheelchairbasketball.co.uk to find out more or use the British Wheelchair Basketball Activity Finder : https://britishwheelchairbasketball.co.uk/get-involved/play/activity-finder/
Participation
Wheelchair basketball currently has 17,000 participants across the UK, with a current potential of up to 70,000.
There are over 120 wheelchair basketball clubs across the UK and you can find your nearest club using the British Wheelchair Basketball club finder: https://britishwheelchairbasketball.co.uk/get-involved/play/club-finder/
IZB
Inclusive Zone Basketball (IZB) is a fully inclusive four-a-side game, merging wheelchair and running basketball together, allowing both disabled and non-disabled players to take part at the same time.
Played on a traditional basketball court, the area is divided up into three zones, one large centre zone through the middle of the court for two wheelchair users on each team and one wing zone either side for running basketball players, one on each side.
On each play the ball must pass through each of the three zones so to keep in time with the inclusive nature of the game, with the ball not allowed to be thrown from one wing zone straight to the other.
With thanks to Basketball England and British Wheelchair Basketball for the use of videos in this article.