{"id":262,"date":"2019-04-03T17:53:10","date_gmt":"2019-04-03T16:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/?p=262"},"modified":"2019-04-04T17:08:04","modified_gmt":"2019-04-04T16:08:04","slug":"wheelchair-basketball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wheelchair-basketball\/","title":{"rendered":"Wheelchair Basketball"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Around about Christmas, my friend\u2026 <em>let\u2019s call her Ros to ensure the guilty are known<\/em>\u2026 had a series of conversations, the first one face to face, then with me on the telephone. They went something like this\u2026<\/p>\n<p><em>Ros & Steve at a party\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve:<\/strong> \u201cI do wheelchair basketball. There\u2019s a few of us but we could do with some more players.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ros:<\/strong> \u201cOh, I know someone who would love to do that, it is exactly what he\u2019s wanting to do!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve:<\/strong> \u201cGreat! Give him my number.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The following day, on the phone\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ros:<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019ve signed you up to wheelchair basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Keith:<\/strong> \u201cPardon?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ros:<\/strong> \u201cWheelchair basketball. You\u2019ll love it\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Keith:<\/strong> \u201cSorry\u2026 What?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ros:<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019ve told them you\u2019ll go now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Keith:<\/strong> \u201cI hated basketball when I was at school.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ros:<\/strong> \u201cGive it a go, you\u2019ll love it, it will be good fun. And anyway, I\u2019ve said you would.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Keith:<\/strong> \u201cAre you doing it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ros:<\/strong> \u201cGoodness, no! Here\u2019s Steve\u2019s number, I\u2019ll be checking you\u2019ve called.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The following day\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ros:<\/strong> \u201cHave you phoned him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Keith:<\/strong> \u201cROS! It\u2019s three o\u2019clock in the bloody morning, let me sleep!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Okay, some exaggeration or even downright lying may have just occurred but there is no denying, when Ros gets excited about something\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Goal!\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/v_JTH6YGWPU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I then went on holiday, which bought me a couple of weeks of breathing space. But during that time, I failed to come up with a good excuse not to, so on my return I had a chat with Steve and agreed to attend the next session. Steve told me that the majority of people attending the sessions were not actually wheelchair users. In fact, there are only three of us out of the ten to fourteen who attend most weeks who are wheelies. But once everyone is sat in a chair, it is a great leveller. I even talked the long suffering Mrs F. in to joining us and she\u2019s surprised herself by how much she\u2019s enjoying it.<\/p>\n<p>If you come along to wheelchair basketball, there are three things that you will notice.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>There is a lot of laughter! No-one takes it too seriously. It is fun. They\u2019ve managed to get the balance right, in that it is competitive enough to be interesting, but relaxed enough to be enjoyable no matter what standard you are. And when I say \u201ccompetitive enough\u201d, I mean you go home sweating, knowing you\u2019ve had a workout!<\/li>\n<li>It isn\u2019t just basketball. There is usually a \u2018warm up\u2019 which may involve a game of some sort. Then generally, \u2018handball\u2019 on the five-a-side football pitch. To be honest, I enjoy this more than the actual basketball. Then, at the end, there is some basketball. Depending upon the numbers, this may be the full court or just the one hoop. The rule then is everyone must touch the ball before a shot can count.<\/li>\n<li>Most importantly, at half time, someone generally produces cake!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Competitive:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-265\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/BW-Competitive.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"740\" height=\"493\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/BW-Competitive.jpg 900w, http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/BW-Competitive-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/BW-Competitive-768x512.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/BW-Competitive-400x267.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px\" \/> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-268\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/BW3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"740\" height=\"493\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/BW3.jpg 900w, http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/BW3-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/BW3-768x512.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/BW3-400x267.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Laughter:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-266\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/BW-Laugh.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"740\" height=\"521\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/BW-Laugh.jpg 900w, http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/BW-Laugh-300x211.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/BW-Laugh-768x541.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/BW-Laugh-400x282.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-267\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/BW-Laugh2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"740\" height=\"462\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/BW-Laugh2.jpg 900w, http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/BW-Laugh2-300x187.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/BW-Laugh2-768x480.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/BW-Laugh2-400x250.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Cake:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">While I was practicing missing the hoop (I\u2019m rather good at that!) everyone else was eating cake!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-270\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Me.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"740\" height=\"843\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Me.jpg 790w, http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Me-263x300.jpg 263w, http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Me-768x875.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Me-400x456.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The serious point is that when I finished work in November 2018 due to fatigue, the important goal was to get healthier & rebuild my stamina.. In reality, I became more isolated. I went out of the house less often because I didn\u2019t have a reason to go out. Work had been the motivator to get out of bed, to leave the house\u2026 to just \u2018do\u2019. Okay, for the first couple of months, my body collapsed. I don\u2019t think I\u2019d realised how utterly exhausted I\u2019d become until I stopped! And crap weather is always a fall back excuse, but I knew I needed to get motivated. Once I returned from the Dominican Republic in January, I felt like I wanted to \u2018do stuff\u2019. Wheelchair basketball was one of those things. It\u2019s healthy, different and I\u2019ve met some really nice people there too. Whisper it quietly, but Ros may have been right, it is good fun and I do love it. But I doubt if any of the Paralympic squad will be looking nervously over their shoulder!<\/p>\n<p>If you live on the Isle of Man and fancy having a go, whether you have a disability or not, all ages and skill levels are welcome. Wednesdays, 7pm at the NSC or drop me an email <a href=\"mailto:keith.fitton@outlook.com\">keith.fitton@outlook.com<\/a> for more information. Chairs, bibs, balls & cake provided.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wheelchair basketball: It&#8217;s not just for wheelchair users! Fun for everyone. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-disability-issues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":275,"href":"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions\/275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rollingwith.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}