CHICAGO (WGN) – Teamwork, strategy, competition and endurance were on full display inside the Broadway Armory Gym for the Wheelchair Basketball Bonanza.
More than a dozen youth wheelchair basketball teams from across the Midwest are showcasing their grit, passion and the skill and strength necessary to navigate the court and shoot in a wheelchair.
“You want to try to have good movement with your ball plus your chair so you don’t run over the ball, you don’t make a turnover,” Isabella Brito of the Chicago Skyhawks said.
The Chicago Park District hosted the tournament where the Skyhawks played three games on Saturday.
“For those kids who have maybe been disabled their whole life and they go to school and they feel different, when they come into this gym we are the majority,” Chicago Park District Adaptive Sports Program Coordinator Dan Ferreira said.
Skyhawks guard Lathan Robinson has played ball with the team for 10 years and said the ability to compete in a wheelchair proves anybody can do anything.
“You put your blood, sweat and tears in this,” Robinson said. “You can do the same thing standing, sitting, it’s the same sport both ways; 10-foot hoops, you compete at the same level.”
While it’s still pretty early in the season, the Skyhawks are already thinking about competing at nationals again.
“These kids that are playing right now, we hadn’t qualified for nationals in five years. We qualified this past year, so we want to make it back,” Ferreira said.
Brito is one of three girls playing varsity for the Skyhawks. In spite of some tense moments on the court, she and her teammates are like family.
“I just love being here. This is like my second home,” Brito said.
She hopes playing her best with the Skyhawks and giving it her all leads to her dream of competing in the paralympics one day, while encouraging others to go after their dreams as well.
“If you have a dream, follow it. Try your hardest. Do your best. Don’t give up,” Brito said.
Jewell Hillery
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