In 1978 the wheelchair basketball team, the High Rollers, played at Anna Hiss and Gregory Gym at The University of Texas. Players snuck David Wear, a non-UT student, into the gyms to participate since the team was always looking for more players.
“We were good until they came in to get our IDs,” Wear said.
Wear was injured January 8, 1976 at 12:30 in the afternoon. A drunk driver traveling 75 mph drifted eight feet into his lane and hit Wear head on. Wear ruptured his aorta and spleen, punctured his left lung and suffered three compound fractures.
Wear was 19 years old at the time of the accident. It forced him to start searching for a new identity.
“Kind of shocking when they tell you [that] you are going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life,” Wear said. “[I] cried a lot.”
Wear found happiness in wheelchair sports. He enjoyed playing basketball at UT, but players were graduating every four years and moving on with their lives’. Forming and maintaining a full team for multiple seasons proved difficult.
“Every time we got someone strong enough [who] learned the game, they were graduating and leaving,” Wear said.
In 1980, Wear and a teammate, Forest Hopkins, decided to leave UT and start a wheelchair basketball team in Austin. In the beginning, it was difficult with no money for equipment, but the team prevailed and still exists today – although with new players.
The Austin River City Rec’ers practice Wednesdays and Thursdays at the Dorris Miller Recreational Center. They are a division three basketball team that plays tournaments on the weekends, which can take them out of town and sometimes even out of the state. There are about 15 players on the team.
Shane Sanders, hurt 10 years ago on April 3, heard about the team from his occupational therapist in Houston.
“I came out, checked it out and fell in love with it,” Sanders said.
Learning to shoot and dribble are the biggest challenges for a beginner in wheelchair basketball according to Wear.
Sanders recalls his first couple of times at practice being tough.
“I hurt just trying to keep up with these guys,” Sanders said.
Wheelchair basketball shares many of the same rules as basketball. Illegal contact in basketball like charging and blocking is the same in wheelchair basketball; the wheelchair is considered part of the player. Players on offense may not sit in the lane for more than three seconds. Players’ wheelchair or body cannot go outside of the out of bounds lines otherwise it is a turnover.
There are differences as well. When dribbling, a player can push twice before bouncing the ball again, any more than that is considered a travel. Referees stop the game if a player falls out of their chair, unless the player is not in any danger. Players are only allowed three physical advantage fouls. A physical advantage foul is called when a player is using any of their functioning body parts, mostly their legs, to have an advantage over the opponent. For example, during a rebound or a jump ball where the player does not firmly stay seated in their chair.
Players with a physical injury such as spinal cord injury, amputee, muscular disease or stroke are invited to join the Austin Rec’ers.
There are three classifications within wheelchair basketball. Class three includes players with a lower extremity physical disability or lower extremity amputee.
Class two consists of players paralyzed starting in their lower spine, T-8. They may have muscle movement in their hips and thighs.
“A class two is somebody like me,” Wear said. “I can lean forward, and I can pull myself up without lifting my hands.”
Class one players are paralyzed at or above their T-7 meaning there is not any muscle function starting at that location and above. People who are considered class one wear a strap around their waist to help hold them up during the basketball game.
“A class one would be someone who leans forward, and they cannot pick themselves up,” Wear said.
Class one and two players are considered paraplegics.
“A patient who is paraplegic has some sort of disease or problem in the spinal cord that causes the patient not to be able to move their lower extremities,” said Mateo Ziu, a neurosurgeon at Seton Brain and Spine Institute.
In the division three class that the Austin Rec’ers compete in, the total number competing on the court for a team cannot exceed 15. The numbers that are added up come from the players class number. Also, teams cannot play two players rated a 3.5 or higher at the same time.
“So, it’s not all dominated by people who are hardly injured,” Wear said.
Traumatic injuries are what often cause someone to become a paraplegic.
A New York Times article published in April 2009 reported 5.6 million Americans are paralyzed to some extent and 1.275 million were because of spinal cord injuries. Stroke is the leading cause.
Sanders was injured by a motorcycle crash that propelled him six inches into a house. He broke 35 bones and ruptured two of three aortic walls above his heart.
Learning to deal with the traumatic injuries is a physical issue as much as it is a psychological issue.
“Your whole mentality of who you are and what life is about changes,” said Eric Lantz, an occupational therapist at Seton Brain and Spine Recovery Center, who is also a paraplegic.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott does not let being in a wheelchair represent who he is as a person.
"I am proud to be able to show people that our lives are not defined by the challenges we face, but how we respond to those challenges," Abbott said. "I am living proof here in Texas a young man can have his life literally broken in half and still rise up."
Sanders tries to stay busy in order to deal with the change. He works part-time at a home improvement store and plays basketball.
“Keep the brain active. Keep the body active,” Sanders said.
Abbott gives a lot of credit to the Austin River City Rec'ers as well as other wheelchair basketball players.
"The Texans participating in the wheelchair basketball team are an inspiration," Abbott said.
“We were good until they came in to get our IDs,” Wear said.
Wear was injured January 8, 1976 at 12:30 in the afternoon. A drunk driver traveling 75 mph drifted eight feet into his lane and hit Wear head on. Wear ruptured his aorta and spleen, punctured his left lung and suffered three compound fractures.
Wear was 19 years old at the time of the accident. It forced him to start searching for a new identity.
“Kind of shocking when they tell you [that] you are going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life,” Wear said. “[I] cried a lot.”
Wear found happiness in wheelchair sports. He enjoyed playing basketball at UT, but players were graduating every four years and moving on with their lives’. Forming and maintaining a full team for multiple seasons proved difficult.
“Every time we got someone strong enough [who] learned the game, they were graduating and leaving,” Wear said.
In 1980, Wear and a teammate, Forest Hopkins, decided to leave UT and start a wheelchair basketball team in Austin. In the beginning, it was difficult with no money for equipment, but the team prevailed and still exists today – although with new players.
The Austin River City Rec’ers practice Wednesdays and Thursdays at the Dorris Miller Recreational Center. They are a division three basketball team that plays tournaments on the weekends, which can take them out of town and sometimes even out of the state. There are about 15 players on the team.
Shane Sanders, hurt 10 years ago on April 3, heard about the team from his occupational therapist in Houston.
“I came out, checked it out and fell in love with it,” Sanders said.
Learning to shoot and dribble are the biggest challenges for a beginner in wheelchair basketball according to Wear.
Sanders recalls his first couple of times at practice being tough.
“I hurt just trying to keep up with these guys,” Sanders said.
Wheelchair basketball shares many of the same rules as basketball. Illegal contact in basketball like charging and blocking is the same in wheelchair basketball; the wheelchair is considered part of the player. Players on offense may not sit in the lane for more than three seconds. Players’ wheelchair or body cannot go outside of the out of bounds lines otherwise it is a turnover.
There are differences as well. When dribbling, a player can push twice before bouncing the ball again, any more than that is considered a travel. Referees stop the game if a player falls out of their chair, unless the player is not in any danger. Players are only allowed three physical advantage fouls. A physical advantage foul is called when a player is using any of their functioning body parts, mostly their legs, to have an advantage over the opponent. For example, during a rebound or a jump ball where the player does not firmly stay seated in their chair.
Players with a physical injury such as spinal cord injury, amputee, muscular disease or stroke are invited to join the Austin Rec’ers.
There are three classifications within wheelchair basketball. Class three includes players with a lower extremity physical disability or lower extremity amputee.
Class two consists of players paralyzed starting in their lower spine, T-8. They may have muscle movement in their hips and thighs.
“A class two is somebody like me,” Wear said. “I can lean forward, and I can pull myself up without lifting my hands.”
Class one players are paralyzed at or above their T-7 meaning there is not any muscle function starting at that location and above. People who are considered class one wear a strap around their waist to help hold them up during the basketball game.
“A class one would be someone who leans forward, and they cannot pick themselves up,” Wear said.
Class one and two players are considered paraplegics.
“A patient who is paraplegic has some sort of disease or problem in the spinal cord that causes the patient not to be able to move their lower extremities,” said Mateo Ziu, a neurosurgeon at Seton Brain and Spine Institute.
In the division three class that the Austin Rec’ers compete in, the total number competing on the court for a team cannot exceed 15. The numbers that are added up come from the players class number. Also, teams cannot play two players rated a 3.5 or higher at the same time.
“So, it’s not all dominated by people who are hardly injured,” Wear said.
Traumatic injuries are what often cause someone to become a paraplegic.
A New York Times article published in April 2009 reported 5.6 million Americans are paralyzed to some extent and 1.275 million were because of spinal cord injuries. Stroke is the leading cause.
Sanders was injured by a motorcycle crash that propelled him six inches into a house. He broke 35 bones and ruptured two of three aortic walls above his heart.
Learning to deal with the traumatic injuries is a physical issue as much as it is a psychological issue.
“Your whole mentality of who you are and what life is about changes,” said Eric Lantz, an occupational therapist at Seton Brain and Spine Recovery Center, who is also a paraplegic.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott does not let being in a wheelchair represent who he is as a person.
"I am proud to be able to show people that our lives are not defined by the challenges we face, but how we respond to those challenges," Abbott said. "I am living proof here in Texas a young man can have his life literally broken in half and still rise up."
Sanders tries to stay busy in order to deal with the change. He works part-time at a home improvement store and plays basketball.
“Keep the brain active. Keep the body active,” Sanders said.
Abbott gives a lot of credit to the Austin River City Rec'ers as well as other wheelchair basketball players.
"The Texans participating in the wheelchair basketball team are an inspiration," Abbott said.
Written by Taylor Smith
Image source: qmagnetics
Image source: qmagnetics