Matteson students learn to play wheelchair basketball
By Mari Grigaliunas Correspondent January 22, 2012 9:14PM
Tyriq Alexander (center), a wheelchair-bound eighth-grader, plays basketball in a demonstration game with the Midwest Wheelchair Sport & Social Club at Huth Middle School in Matteson. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun-Times Media
Updated: May 9, 2012 10:11AM
Players dribbled down the basketball court at Matteson’s O.W. Huth Middle School, while the crowd of students cheered for each basket made and sighed with each missed shot.
“Flat tire,” someone yelled.
Keith Wallace, Chicago Fire Wheelchair Basketball coach, rolled to the sideline, whipped off his failing wheel and snapped on a new one with the speed of a cockpit pro, joining back in the game only seconds later.
Aside from that momentary scene, Thursday’s scrimmage resembled a traditional basketball game. Players played by the same rules, at the same pace and with the same passion as their chair-less counterparts.
“I think that the misconception is that (people with disabilities are) not able to participate in physical activities,” said Lisa Drzewiecki, Superintendent of the South Suburban Special Recreation Association.
SSSRA provided sport wheelchairs so students could try the game themselves.
“I thought it would be really hard because it takes all the leg out of every shot you do,” said seventh grader Warren Allen, who plays on Huth’s basketball team.
Huth and SSSRA partnered up as a result of Matteson School District 162’s “Model for a Healthier Generation” initiative. With the financial support of a $71,000 grant from the Cook County Department of Public Health to promote physical activity and fitness, as well as a $61,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant aimed at teaching students lifelong healthy eating habits, each of the district’s seven schools has developed a wellness plan.
“It’s just important to show the students here ... that everyone can be active and engaged in a healthy lifestyle regardless of what their personal background is,” said Holly McCarthy, a physical education teacher.
In addition to Thursday’s scrimmage, SSSRA led a workshop earlier in the week also aimed at disability awareness. Huth pupils navigated a classroom while wearing Vaseline-smeared goggles to simulate vision impairment. Another group played Jenga while wearing thick work gloves to limit their hand mobility, similar to arthritis.
“They were receptive to it,” Drzewiecki said. “A few of them were frustrated and said, ‘We can’t do this.’ After about five minutes we were saying, ‘You just can’t give away your disability.’ ”
At that point, Drzewiecki said, the few aggravated students accepted the challenge.
Eighth grader Morgan Brunson not only enjoyed playing wheelchair basketball (she says she’d love to play again), but also says the experience gave her a new perspective.
“I have a classmate who’s in a wheelchair,” Brunson said. “Now I can see how he feels to roll around the school and go different places, like at dismissal it’s crazy.”
Wallace believes the experience Brunson and other students had at Huth will help them look past an individual’s wheelchair or physical signs of a disability and see the person. While Wallace is not physically disabled, he dedicates his life to working with those who are.
He coaches five wheelchair basketball teams between his two jobs as superintendent of recreation at Lincoln-Way Special Recreation Association and CEO/founder of his not-for-profit Midwest Wheelchair Sport and Social Club.
“Most of the individuals that play (wheelchair basketball) are my friends,” Wallace said. “They’re my best friends.”
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