Wheelchair basketball is changing its game

The Adaptive Sports Club has set new goals for its basketball team, OSU SPOKES, this season in the world of wheelchair basketball.

An athletics program for students with disabilities, the Adaptive Sports Club was established in 1998, when students and staff signed a petition to start a wheelchair basketball team. SPOKES then joined the Arkansas Valley Conference­, competing in the college division.

But this season, the team was dropped to second division because four of its nine players attend Northern Oklahoma College.

Stacy Pinney, wheelchair basketball coach of six seasons, said her team has a lot of promise and skills.

"We're trying to rebuild and get back into the college division," Pinney said.

Wheelchair basketball has not been a main focus of OSU's sports, and the Adaptive Sports Club has set its goals to change that, said Nick Olding, a third-year member of the club.

"I think that a mutual goal the team has set is to turn around our program and continue winning games, maybe eventually getting a national championship," Olding, a small-forward, said. "Personally, I'd like to see more people throughout Stillwater learning about the sport and coming out to support us just as they support the other OSU athletic teams here on campus."

SPOKES has competed in five tournaments this season, traveling to Oklahoma, Minnesota and Arkansas, and will travel to Puerto Rico to play the Puerto Rican National Team on May 10-17, Olding said. Its next tournament is Saturday in Little Rock, Ark.

The Adaptive Sports Club will hold "Basketball Bash," a basketball tournament on April 14, featuring the members of the club and the Cowboy and Cowgirl basketball teams.

"We've trained everyday from Monday to Friday, even some weekends, when we are not on the road," said Joe Miera, center/point guard and Adaptive Sports Club president. "The Bash is a big deal for us; we look at it as another game, but also we know we can have some fun."  

           
Pinney said the team has come a long way this season, competing in a division with more community than college teams.

"So far our season has shown a vast improvement from the last. We are really playing well as a team, and not just playing as individuals," Olding said. "Based on how we are improving, I see us going far in the wheelchair basketball world."