|
|
|
|
Wheelchair Basketball in St. Louis: Short History & Some Rules
The current incarnation of the St. Louis Rolling Rams adult wheelchair basketball team is coached by Ann Eubank. Ann is Director of Education for Crown Therapeutics. The St. Louis Junior Rolling Rams wheelchair basketball team is coached by Jim Dugan. Jim is an avid wheelchair athlete, played on the US Floor Volleyball team at the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta, and enjoys introducing children to the world of wheelchair sports.
The St. Louis Rolling Rams are one of the oldest, continuing, civilian wheelchair basketball teams in the world. Established in 1948, the Rolling Rams have built quite a history, especially during the early 1950s when they won three National Championships (1951, 1952, 1953). The original team was organized by a man named Joseph Gorke. Many players deserve mention as contributing to the development and growth of the sport including the following: Jim Greenblatt, Wally Petro, Dick Ries, Ron Stein, Dean Nosker, Dave White, Andy Zika, Tom Timme, O. G. Polster, Joe Graff, Jim Schlitt, and Bob Murphy.
Wheelchair basketball is played in accordance with NCAA rules with very few exceptions. The court is of regulation size, and both the adults and juniors play with a 10 foot basket. For a mini program, the basket would be lowered to 8 and 1/2 feet.
Any individual (male or female) who, because of permanent severe orthopedic or paralytic disability of the legs or lower portion of the body, will benefit through participation and who would be denied the opportunity to play stand-up basketball, is eligible. Players are given a functional exam and are classified as either a class I (low functioning), class II (mid-range functioning), and class III (high functioning).
A manual self-propelled wheelchair is the primary adaptation. The wheelchair is considered part of the player. General rules of contact in stand-up basketball (charging, blocking, etc.) apply to wheelchair basketball.
An offensive player cannot remain in the key more than 4 seconds in the free throw lane while the player's team is in possession of the ball in the front court. A player in possession of the ball may not push more than twice in succession with one or both hands in either direction without dribbling the ball at least once. A player may wheel the chair and bounce the simultaneously just as the stand-up player runs and bounces the ball.
Because of the varying causes and manifestations of disability among participants, a basic rule of keeping firmly seated in the wheelchair at all times in strictly enforced. An infraction of this rule constitutes a physical advantage foul. Players are not allowed to use a functional leg or stump (case of an amputee) for physical advantage. Three such fouls disqualify a player from the game.
For more information link to the National Wheelchair Basketball Association at www.nwba.org.
Quad Rugby in St. Louis: Short History of the Game
The St. Louis Rugby Rams operate as a quad rugby program of the St. Louis Wheelchair Athletic Association. The team formed during the 1994-1995 season. The coaches are Jenni DeGuentz and Anne Evans, both physical therapists at SSM Rehab. Trained and certified class C referees are Chris Peters and Scott Bradley. Another major supporter is Dr. Tom Lieb, Doctor of Physiatry at SSM Rehab, and USQRA Level IV player classifier.
Quad Rugby is the fastest growing wheelchair sport in the world. It was developed in Canada in the late 1970's and was originally called "Murderball." The sport was introduced to the United States in the early 1980's. The sport soon began to catch on in the States as it developed in Canada. In other parts of the world it is known as Wheelchair Rugby, while in the United States it is known as Quad Rugby. The USQRA was formed in 1988 to meet the fantastic growth of the game. It was a demonstration sport at the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta, and in the year 2000, Wheelchair Rugby will have full medal status at the Sydney, Australia Paralympics.
Players may have various disabilities that preclude their play in stand-up sport competition. Players must have a combination of upper and lower extremity impairment to be considered eligible to compete. Players are given medical and functional exams to determine: (1) if they qualify for the sport, and (2) the classification they will be assigned for competition. Most of the players have sustained a spinal cord injury and have some type of quadriplegia as a result. Players are classified from one of seven areas ranging from 0.5 on the low end to 3.5 on the upper end.
Quad Rugby is a fast paced and exciting four-on-four team sport. A volleyball is used because it is light, and the game is played on a regulation basketball court. A goal line at each end of the court measures eight meters. A key area (the scoring area) extends from the goal line and is 1.75 meters deep. A player scores by crossing the goal line with possession of the ball. One point is given for each score. Four eight minute periods are played in a regulation game.
The season usually begins in October and culminates with the National Championships in April. Teams are placed in Regions and compete through a playoff format to qualify for Sectionals. Sectional tournaments qualify teams for the USQRA National tournament which is hosted at a different site each year.
The St. Louis Wheelchair Athletic Association hosted the 1998 USQRA North Central Sectional Tournament in March at West County Technical High School that included the Tennessee QuadCrushers, the Chicago Quad Cruisers, the Minnesota Ice, the Columbus Lowriders, the Pittsburgh Steelwheelers, the powerful California Quake, and the St. Louis Rugby Rams. You can find out more about quad rugby through the website of the USQRA at www.quadrugby.com.
Road Racing
Sorry, no details available yet, please check back
Self Defense
Sorry, no details available yet, please check back
Snow Skiing
Sorry, no details available yet, please check back
Wheelchair Softball in St. Louis: Short History
The St. Louis Rolling Rams wheelchair softball team has existed since 1991. The Rolling Rams, through the 1998 season, have never finished lower than 4th place in the National Wheelchair Softball Tournament, which is held at a different location around the country every year. The 1997 season marked the finest display of wheelchair softball by a St. Louis team as the Rolling Rams won the National Wheelchair Softball Association (NWSA) National Championship played in Pasadena, Texas (suburb of Houston). That season, the Rolling Rams not only won the title, but had six players named to the All-Tournament team.
Incidentally, Pasadena, Texas, boasts the finest wheelchair softball facility in the country with two fields that have a painted infield, lights for night games, a backstop, a fence to hit homers over, and dugout fences that slide back-and-forth. This facility is called the Verne-Cox Multipurpose Wheelchair Sports Center.
Wheelchair Softball is played under the official rules of 16" slow pitch softball as approved by the Amateur Softball Association of America with a few exceptions:
All participants must play in manual wheelchairs. The playing field shall be a level smooth surface of blacktop or concrete with 150 feet down the lines and 180-220 feet to straight center. The official diamond shall have 50 feet between all bases and 70 feet, 8.5 inches from home to second base. At second base shall be located a 4 feet diameter circle. At first and third base, in fair territory, shall be a 4 feet diameter semi-circle. Bases shall be painted white. The baserunner must touch the circle with one or more wheels.
The baserunner must be seated in his or her wheelchair and may tag or make contact with the base with either one or more wheels, or may tag the base with his/her hand. A baserunner may not place a lower extremity (waist down) on the ground. No fielder may advance toward or play the ball with any lower extremity in contact with the ground. All teams are required to have a quadriplegic on their team in active play. A point system based on a functional classification system is used. Any 10 players on the field must add up to 22 points or less based on a 3-2-1 classification system. The hitter cannot have a lower extremity in contact with the ground when hitting.
The NWSA does not have a web site at this time, but more information on wheelchair softball can be obtained from the national office. The commissioner is Jon Speake and the office address is 1616 Todd Ct., Hastings, MN, 55033.
Swimming
Sorry, no details available yet, please check back
Wheelchair Tennis in St. Louis: A Short History
Wheelchair tennis in St. Louis and the Midwest can trace its origins to a man named Jim Greenblatt. Before there was any organized wheelchair tennis in St. Louis, Jim Greenblatt was playing tennis in a wheelchair against stand-up players. Jim was an attorney, and tennis was a way for him to socialize with others in his practice.
After a trip to the fledgling US Open in California around 1980, Jim got a group together to play wheelchair tennis and held a spur of the moment tournament at Queeny Park. That first tournament grew into the St. Louis Wheelchair Tennis Classic. For 13 years the tournament was hosted by the St. Louis Society, and in 1997, the St. Louis Wheelchair Athletic Association was awarded this tournament. The name was changed to the Gateway Classic.
Tennis is a great game for those new to wheelchair sports. It's one of the most popular sports in the world. It's an individual sport and can be a team sport when playing doubles. Also, most of the rules for wheelchair tennis are identical to the rules for stand-up tennis. The one exception is for the allowance of two bounces of the ball instead of one.
The National Foundation for Wheelchair Tennis has merged with the United States Tennis Association wheelchair tennis division to improve the quality and quantity of wheelchair tennis across the United States. The game is great for wheelchair tennis players as the popularity of "one-up/one-down" (one person in a wheelchair and one standing) play continues to grow.
The SLWAA tennis coach is Lyn De Laney. Lyn is coach at Principia College and director of Alton Park and Recreation. Lyn is also the tournament director for the Gateway Classic.
For more information about wheelchair tennis link to USTA at www.usta.com or the National Foundation for Wheelchair Tennis at www.nfwt.org
Track & Field and Road Racing in St. Louis
Wheelchair racing was introduced to St. Louis in the late 1970s by Jim Bird as a way for members of the St. Louis Rolling Rams wheelchair basketball team to participate in something new. Jim returned to St. Louis from Chicago where he was living and rehabing at the VA. A quadriplegic, Jim Bird found wheelchair racing something that he could do competitively. Although he was a member of the wheelchair basketball team, he physically could not match the strength of the rest of the players. Plus, wheelchair racing was an individual sport rather than a team sport and that interested him more.
Initially, all wheelchair racing occurred on a track, hence wheelchair track & field. The idea of road racing in 10K races and marathons locally with stand-up runners is a more recent concept. Back in the formative days of wheelchair racing, all the chairs were basically medical chairs for basketball that were modified with hacksaws and welds. So if you wanted to race you had to build your own chair. They were primitive to say the least compared to the highly specialized, sophisticated, and complex sport chair for racing that exists today. Indeed, the wheelchair for racing design is to achieve maximal forward velocity with minimal energy expenditure (WS/USA Track & Field, Chapter 4, pg. 57).
Because wheelchair racing is an individual sport, a highly evolved classification system of participants has been developed. These classification criteria are different from those used for wheelchair basketball and quad rugby. They are more medically based in the area of disability relating to the spinal cord or orthopedic area of the body (in the case of amputees) rather than using a functional criteria. Racers are classified and placed in divisions for men and women and quads.
Competitions are held around the country. Qualifying Standards are set by Wheelchair Sports/USA. To compete in a National, a racer would have to qualify at a regional. Most St. Louis racers qualify at the University of Illinois-Champagne/Urbana Track Meet. Road Racing is the rage these days as more and more stand-up or running 10Ks, half-marathons and marathons incorporate a wheelchair division. Usually, the wheelchair racers start first because they tend to run the race faster because they are on wheels.
Road Races like The Peachtree in Atlanta, the Pony Express in Tucson, The Boston Marathon, New York Marathon, Chicago Marathon, Belleville Half-Marathon, Columbus Marathon, LA Marathon, and many more races can provide a fascinating racing season and a great travel schedule, too. Most racers gear up for the year-end competition at the Riverside Rumble 10K World Championships in Wilkes-Barre, PA. St. Louis wheelchair racers are always welcomed in races on flat courses that are hosted by the St. Louis Track Club.
To find out more about wheelchair athletics, track & field, road racing and more, visit the web site of Wheelchair Sports/USA at www.wsusa.org.
Adapted Water Skiing in St. Louis: A Short History
Water skiing for the disabled emerged after World War II. Many of the teaching techniques founded in those early days are still used today. Water ski clubs for disabled skiers were formed and the first tournaments soon followed.
In Belgium in the early 1960s and exciting breakthrough happened with the advent of the Sitz Ski, which evolved into today's modern sit ski. Originally, the Sitz Ski was a seven foot long, two foot wide wooden plank with turned up front and a large fin at the back. The skier sat on the plank and kept from sliding off with the help of a metal side frame and rubber foot rest. This device allowed individuals with mobility impairments to enjoy the sport, but it was hardly responsive.
Exciting changes occurred in the 1980s. A Californian named Royce Andes, who was rehabing from a broken neck, developed what would become the Kan Ski. Made of fiberglass/graphite composites, a more narrow profile and a raised seat, he created a true sit ski. Other equipment includes the quad back, outriggers, quadgrips, and Delgar Sling for amputees.
The water ski program of the St. Louis Wheelchair Athletic Association began in 1991 with a clinic through Texas Adaptive Aquatics and held in conjucntion with the Bud Light Ski Tour at Creve Coeur Lake. In July 1998, SLWAA worked with Disabled Sports/USA and Kawasaki Motor Corporation to host the Operation Challenge Total Water Sports Clinic at Creve Coeur Lake. Other clinics on a smaller scale are held throughout the summer at Lake St. Louis and West Frankfort Lake.
More information about water skiing for the disabled can be found through the American Water Ski Association and the United States Adaptive Recreation Center and the Tahoe Adaptive Ski School.