Rolling Grizzlies Reflection

Wow. What an amazing experience. Last night, my classmates and I had the wonderful privilege of attending a practice for the Memphis Rolling Grizzlies, our city's professional wheelchair basketball team. Although I knew that wheelchair basketball existed before this, I really did not know much if anything about it, but this was both an informative and an inspiring event. When we arrived, the coach of the team welcomed us and filled us in about the rules of the game and the different divisions and levels of play. I had no idea that it was such a competitive sport throughout the U.S., or that there were college and junior level teams as well. I was especially impressed by the fact that the Rolling Grizzlies themselves had gone from a D3 team to a D1 team over the course of one tournament. With that, the practice began. I had no idea how physical of a game this was going to be, or how many strict rules they had to adhere to. The one that struck me the most was that in order for them to not be traveling, they can only push their wheelchair twice before dribbling, passing, or shooting. The strength and coordination of these players was really impressive. I remember being slightly terrified when a few of the players fell, but they managed to get back up and get right back to playing. When some of them fell, others would rush over to help them get back up again which really spoke to their team spirit. The coach said that many of these guys had played together for several years and it really showed. When the practice was over, they allowed us to try out their chairs, which was much more difficult than I would have thought. I could barely steer it moving slowly, and they would do it while playing basketball, and at a much higher speed.

I had several takeaways from the practice. First, it just made me smile seeing how happy they all were to be playing basketball and the camaraderie that they built by being on the team. It truly was a community and that was so great to see. Second, I am really thankful for the experience. Both that I got to observe it, but also that the team and their coach were so welcoming to us and willing to answer any questions that we had. Lastly, I love how accessible their team is. The coach explained to us that there are levels of how much a person's injury will affect their playing ability, but anyone who is unable to play regular basketball is welcome in their league. This means that someone could be walking fine, but if they are unable to play basketball for any reason, the wheelchair basketball league welcomes them. As a future OT, this made me smile, because it just reminded me the importance of people being able to do what is meaningful to them in whatever way they are able to.