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Wheelchair basketball team raises funds ahead of nationals
Members of Iowa’s only Adaptive Sports youth basketball program expect to end the program once season ends
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
WELLMAN — Members of Iowa’s only Adaptive Sports-recognized youth wheelchair basketball team held a fundraiser last weekend ahead of their trip to Nationals, as athletes and organizers said they expected the upcoming tournament in Richmond, Virginia would be their last.
Guests at the event in Wellman’s YMCA building paid with donations for a chance to borrow a wheelchair and compete against one another in 3-on-3 matches refereed by members of the Iowa Grizzlies, with the top performers taking take on the team itself. Volunteers also sold raffle tickets and concessions throughout the day as athletes on the hardwood jockeyed for the ball in specially designed wheelchairs.
With four of the team’s seven members expected to graduate high school at the end of this academic year, the remaining athletes say they’ll have to disband due to an unfilled roster. Most plan to travel to neighboring states to keep playing.
“I have talked to a couple coaches from across the Midwest, I’m either playing with the Wisconsin team, in Madison, or in Kansas City,” said Josh Anderson, a junior in Washington who said there weren’t any programs closer than the Iowa team’s weekly practice in Tiffin. “But for those, they practice on Thursdays, and they all live kind of close to each other, so that’s one thing we’ve got to work out.”
Anderson joined the Grizzlies two years ago. He said the experience indulged his love of the sport, and offered an athletic outlet that many wheelchair users lack.
“What I really enjoy about this is seeing other kids who have a dream of playing sports, with a disability,“ Anderson said. “I met a lot of new friends from basketball tournaments around the Midwest, and they are great people.”
Members thank team, community for support
Mid-Prairie Senior Jayden Stafford is gearing up for his last time on the Grizzlies’ roster next week. He was among the team’s founding members in 2017, staying with the program as it registered with Adaptive Sports Iowa and changed mascots in 2021.
He said he planned to join a college team in Whitewater, Wisconsin after graduating.
“It’s going to be an emotional time, for sure, this is the group of people I’ve been around since before high school,” he said. “It’s going to be hard to leave, since I’ve been here since day one.”
Stafford said he appreciated the turnout at Saturday’s fundraiser event in the Wellman Parkside Activities Center.
“It shows how much people in this community care,” Stafford said. “Them coming out supporting us, to me, shows us they care just as much for their athletes that don’t play able-bodied sports.”
Dana Stafford, Jayden’s father, said he was pleased with the youth wheelchair basketball program as well. The parent bought his own custom-fitted chair to help his son practice, and said he was grateful for all the support and camaraderie that came with the adaptive sports community.
“J started this when he was in grade school. We’re in the Mid-Prairie school district, he was the only one there with a wheelchair,” he said. “The first time we went to a big competition, there was hundreds of people from across the nation playing basketball, people like him. He didn’t stand out, it was great for him.”
Dixie Conrad was the head organizer of Saturday’s event, a grandmother to one of the athletes. She said the team had helped her connect with other families raising children with mobility aids.
Like many other families involved in the program, Conrad recounted the thrill of watching a kid slowly grow alongside their peers, mastering their athletic prowess and polishing their competitive skills along the way.
“You go and you watch, and when they’re very little, playing prep … and you’re at a game and all of a sudden they make that basket, and everybody’s cheering and yelling for them,” she said. “It’s all those things you’d experience with any other sport, but this one, it has a special place in my heart.”
Grizzlies to attend Nationals next month
The national tournament is just under two weeks away, scheduled from April 4-6 in Richmond, Virginia.
It marks the end of the season, which the Grizzlies have spent practicing in Tiffin every Saturday, the rough central point between members’ homes spread across Des Moines, Dubuque, Cedar Falls, the Quad Cities and elsewhere around the Hawkeye State.
Coach David Kirst said the team qualified for the NIT bracket at Nationals, thanks to its win-loss records at a handful of other events this season sanctioned by the National Wheelchair Basketball Association.
“It’s fun, 85% of the teams get to go, and then you can play a bunch of kids from across the country,” he said.
While players look forward to the trip, he said the trip would be a bittersweet send-off.
“It’s tough because you want to keep coaching the players, but they’re all going to great programs, they’re going to do really good there,” he said.
Saturday’s fundraiser helped the athletes cover travel expenses, including gas, hotels and storage space for multiple wheelchairs, since they use different mobility aids on and off the court.
The games in Virginia will be livestreamed via Dixie Conrad’s Facebook page.
Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com
