Crusaders Wheelchair Basketball Academy 2009
The
Crusaders Wheelchair Basketball Academy train and play all their home
games at Woodlands Sports Academy, Broad Lane, Coventry.
A
wheelchair basketball team has been in Coventry for a long time. They
became part of the Coventry Crusader organisation for the 1995/96
season.
Since
then the Coventry team has developed into a broader organisation
committed to the development of individuals and focussing on working
with young people from the age of 6 to develop the wheelchair
basketball stars of the future.
A
mixed team of juniors and adults will be entering the GBWBA Division 3
this year to develop match experience in those who have developed
their basketball skills to completion level so far. In the mean time
work continues with our newer juniors with the intention of entering a
team in the junior league possibly in 2010/11.
If you
have never been fortunate enough to see these guys play, then I can
thoroughly recommend it. There is little difference between the
wheelchair game and the standard game, the rules are the same and it
is just as fast and exciting and the competition just as strong.. The
Academy welcomes visitors who wish to try out the sport. Just ring
Paul on 077 3777 4255 to arrange a suitable time. The Academy also
organises taster sessions for school age children, other groups and
companies in and around the Coventry area by mutual agreement.
The
academy is aiming to open the sport to 100 regular participants each
week within the next 2 years. We already have 30 regular participants
across 2 sessions on a Thursday evening with a session from 6:00pm –
7:30 for new and junior players and a second session for the improvers
and team members 7:30pm – 9:00pm
To
achieve this aim, there is obviously the need of additional equipment,
and that does not come without a cost. A new sports chair costs
between £2000 and £3000 each. The academy is self-financing,
combining a mixture of sponsorship, bids to various funding
organisations and a lot of fund-raising activity by the members and
their families!
The
academy’s current chairs are combination of chairs that were donated
10 years ago by RGK and maintained to a reasonable level for continued
use and more recent purchases for key juniors in the squad. Further
equipment requires more funding, and the academy has a full schedule
of activity to raise as much money as possible to support these
purchases.
Paul
Claridge has coached the membership since their merger with the
Crusader camp. Paul had been playing basketball for 21 years before
taking up his current role. His enthusiasm for the game is infectious
as is his admiration and support for each member of the Academy. A
small number of players also assist with coaching of our juniors. In
addition to developing of the players themselves, the academy is also
committed to the development of coaches and officials in the sport.
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