Skip to main content

Rolling Grizzlies

Last night my OT class had the opportunity to watch a local D-I professional wheelchair basketball team practice.  The Rolling Grizzlies is an athletic group of men who compete in the highest wheelchair basketball division.  What an experience it was getting to watch them play.  Not only did we get to watch, but the players let us take their chairs for a spin!  I played basketball growing up, so I jumped at the opportunity to try out one of the chairs.  Instantly I realized the arm strength required to shoot and pass the ball from a seated position as well as the coordination needed for pushing the chair and dribbling the ball smoothly.  It is much harder than typical basketball.  These men played for an hour and a half with hardly any breaks.  This shows what great physical shape is required to participate in this game.
During my undergraduate career, I was fortunate enough to take an adapted athletics course where we learned about all types of adaptive sports.  It was one of the most interesting classes in my major by far, and it exposed me to so many different sports.  The University of Alabama Women's Wheelchair Basketball team was the collegiate national champions in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015, and 2017.  Needless to say it is a very strong and highly acclaimed program.  My undergrad class also got to sit in on one of their practices, and those women were incredible.  Alabama did a phenomenal job advocating for adaptive sports while I was there.
Watching the Rolling Grizzlies made me feel overjoyed because you hear all the time about people who are injured and in a wheelchair that experience depression or social withdrawal.  These guys have built a community where they can stay active and be social.  I'm sure each journey was unique and challenging at times, but they are an inspiration to anyone struggling with social reintegration.  It can be done and it can be very fulfilling!
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Person-First Language

" The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug. "   - Mark Twain  People with disabilities are just like every other human being.  Person-first language puts focus on the individual and not the disability.  We should not identify individuals based on their functional or mental limitations.  For example, a practitioner should refer to someone as "a man who had a stroke" instead of a "stroke patient."  I believe it is important to understand and practice person-first language to be an effective practitioner.  First, it allows the client to feel more comfortable, and you will make more progress together if the client feels like an individual and not a disability.  Second, occupational therapists are trained to help people as a whole, not just the disability, so it is important for us to look past the disability and focus on the client, as well.  There are countless mo...
1 comment
Read more

The Fundamentals of Caring - Neuro Note #2

The Fundamentals of Caring is a hilarious, yet heartwarming movie about the relationship between a boy with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and his caregiver.  The boy, Trevor, has a dark, sarcastic, unique sense of humor, and his new caregiver, Ben, seems to be one of the few who can take his banter.  I have seen this movie before and thought it was phenomenal.  I wanted to watch it again with more of an OT perspective, and I am so glad I did.  One of the first things I noticed is at the beginning of the movie, Ben asks Trevor what the one thing he would want to do in the whole world if he didn't have DMD.  Trevor answers by saying he would want to pee standing up, which I'm sure is a very prideful activity as a male.  I loved that scene because Ben had just been through a 6-week caregiver certification course where they preached ALOHA: Ask, Listen, Observe, Help, Ask again.  However, Ben did more than just that.  He found what Trevor values and des...
Post a Comment
Read more

Era Presentation Recap

During the Era Presentations, an event that carried over through a couple decades was World War II, starting in the 1940s.  Men were sent off to war, so women were forced to become the breadwinners of families and make a living for themselves.  If women did not get a job in this time period, it definitely sparked a movement of women entering the workforce shortly after.  WWII created an increased need for OT to tend to injured soldiers and veterans trying to participate in civilian life after war.  This opened up many job opportunities to women, and kickstarted the growth of OT.  It was needed then more than ever.  Soldiers needed to regain strength and mobility to be able to fight for our country, and veterans needed to overcome mental illnesses or other physical limitations to participate in life after war.  OT thrived in these years, and the country needed more practitioners to keep up with the demand.  More and more OT programs were developed ...
Post a Comment
Read more