Coimbatore: When Keerthi was a Class V student, she had to undergo a surgery for a problem in her spinal cord, which left her unable to walk. But, on Sunday, the 22-year-old woman was at a basketball court in the city, excitedly trying to dribble a basketball.
“I have not participated in any sport before. But, now I want to get trained in wheelchair basketball and excel in it,” Keerthi, who was one of the participants of a camp to create awareness on wheelchair basketball, told TOI.
N Priyadas, 28, a wheelchair athlete, who participates in shot put, javelin and discus throw, said he was also new to wheelchair basketball. “We don’t know whether we will get to participate in national-level or state-level basketball tournaments. But, we want to give it a try,” he said.
The programme was a talent identification camp as much as it was an awareness camp, said Guna of Sittruli Foundation, which has been working to encourage disabled people to take up sports.
“Wheelchair basketball training camps happen in Chennai and Vellore. We wanted to start one in Coimbatore as well. Our aim is to form a wheelchair basketball team in Coimbatore,” he said.
Though there are people in tier-II cites such as Coimbatore, who want to take up wheelchair sports, they don’t have much opportunities, said Lalithkumar Natarajan of Love and Acceptance, an NGO for the welfare of disabled people.
He said such camps would encourage people with mobility disabilities to take up sports. “The camp would also help to identify potential candidates, who could be trained,” said Natarajan, a para-athlete, who does rifle shooting and biking.
Natarajan said the main problem people with mobility disorders face in sports is that sports wheelchairs are expensive. “They will need customised sports wheelchairs according to their physique, which are expensive,” he said.
Agrees V Rajan, an international basketball referee. “People can’t practice basketball on concrete floors. They need wooden floors for smoother wheelchair mobility. Also, they need sports wheelchairs, which are very efficient in terms of movements. They cost around Rs 60,000,” he said.
The initiative is a collaboration of Sittruli Foundation and Love and Acceptance and Decathlon.
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