A NEW basketball program designed to give sports-loving people with physical disabilities more opportunities will start in Warrnambool.
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Warrnambool Mermaids coach Louise Brown will oversee the initiative, which will start with two come-and- try sessions at the Arc before the school holiday period.
Brown, whose son Jaylen is an amputee and will be part of the program, said a $10,000 VicHealth Active Club grant helped purchase 10 wheelchairs.
“We are opening it to everyone, there is no age limit,” she said.
Brown said the program, which will run as one-hour weekly sessions from term two, had already attracted four participants – Jaylen, Harvey McCorkell, Patrick Giblin and Bill Sheedy.
Jaylen, Patrick and Bill all tested out the new wheelchairs on Monday.
“It was really exciting. It was the first time they have jumped in the chairs and they were flying around and loved it,” Brown said.
“It’s good to give kids with a physical disability an opportunity to participate, exercise and be a part of a group or social environment.”
Jaylen will represent Victoria at the national wheelchair championships in Townsville in April.
He was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency – a condition which stunts leg growth and impacts on hips.
The St Pius Primary School student uses a prosthetic leg in day-to-day life and plays able-bodied basketball for a Koroit under 14 side.
Patrick, 13, has been confined a wheelchair since he was six due to a condition similar to spina bifida and Bill, 9, has a congenital hip disorder.
Bill had a new hip socket built from a bone graft from his opposite hip when he was two and is likely to have a full hip replacement at 15.
Brown said she was grateful for the support from Warrnambool Basketball Incorporated, VicHealth and South West Sports Assembly in helping the program come to fruition.
The initiative will start on Thursday with a come and try session at the Arc between 6-7pm with anyone interested, including able-bodied athletes, encouraged to attend.
A second session will be conducted next week.