Out & About April 2017

 You often hear that sport is a great enabler and method of bringing people together. There’s no truer case of this than the Kings, so if you want a sport or a club that has changed perceptions and inspired people from all backgrounds and abilities then give them a shot. As club captain Wayne told me: “Give it a go, see what you find. We have everything here that you could recommend to anyone. We are looking for all types of players.” My time came to be put in a chair and talked through movement, dribbling, passing and shooting with Jacqueline Scoins-Cass and her husband Peter Scoins. The chair felt incredibly light and I quickly found myself covering more ground than I first thought I would. With no brakes, you have to grab hold of the wheels if you want to stop suddenly – something I later found handy as turnover happens fast and frequently. Next came dribbling, with Peter teaching me to bounce the ball to the side of the chair. I can’t dribble a ball standing so being asked to try and maintain control at a lower height with the ball an arm’s length away – in my albatross arms case, two feet – from my body was a hard ask; in addition I had to attempt this manoeuvre without looking at the ball. I started on my right side, which was hard enough, but manageable. Then Peter made me take the ball over to the left side of my chair – seriously, don’t ask me to do anything with the left side of my body, I lost the ball straightaway. Next came some passing, and I fared slightly better. You can either loop the ball over the top – good if you’re crowded out by defenders – bounce the ball in front of a player or try a direct pass; you just need to remember that it has to be at chair height and that some players may not be able to catch accurately on one side of their body. Now came my chance to have a go at shooting and, as mentioned, the basket stays at the height it would for a standing game of basketball, about 10ft off the ground. I’m 6ft 2” and can just about manage to shoot a hoop when standing up, so dropping a couple of feet made rethink the power of my shot. Peter showed me the technique used for shooting, keeping your wrist and elbow bent at 90 degrees and then pushing up and flicking your wrist. It wasn’t long before I tried to show off and shoot while moving, with various levels of success – mostly at the lower end of the scale. After my whirlwind introduction, I was brought on as a sub during a Kings training game. I was told to get stuck-in and position myself under the basket to try and catch any loose shots, but the speed at which the pros moved left me trailing. I did make a couple of passes and had one half-decent shot, and claimed an assist – so I was happy enough. Most importantly, I came away thinking of the amazing work that’s taking place in West Berkshire. Development Before I got strapped in, I spoke with Daniel Jones, who has been with the club since it was set up in 2004. I asked ‘DJ’ why he had stayed with the club and how it had developed over the years. “I enjoy playing the game and it’s given me different opportunities and experiences,” he said, which range from playing to refereeing. “The club has slowly been growing with people who have decided to pick the game up and I’ve made a lot of friends and seen a lot of people develop from when they were younger, then grow as players and develop as people.” DJ then ran me through a game, which sees two teams of five play four 10-minute periods. The game is played under International Wheelchair Basketball Federation rules and a team has 24 seconds to attempt to score a basket – they lose the ball and the right of play if the time expires. In terms of dribbling, a player may wheel the chair and bounce the ball simultaneously, but if the ball is picked up or placed in the lap you may only push the chair twice before shooting, passing or dribbling the ball again. And if that isn’t enough, the wheelchair is considered part of the player’s body in relation to any contact made, so no ramming and a player cannot use their feet while in possession of the ball. A game can be stopped if a chair tips over and the player is deemed at risk of injury. Teams are given classification points based on their ability to play the game and each team is allowed a total 14 points on the court at one time. Players are ranked from 1 to 4, with 0.5 and 4.5 for exceptional cases, so two able-bodied players could take up 9 points by themselves. To top it all off, the height of the basket is the same as that of a normal basketball game, as well as the shooting lines, making it more difficult to register points. Participation

DANIEL JONES

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