SDSC | News

Dreamt of becoming a savvy basketballer? The Wheelchair Basketball Association (WBA) can help!

07/07/07 was not only a special date for many couples. It was also a meaningful date for many veteran and amateur basketballers, both able-bodied and disabled, who had been waiting many years for this special occasion - the formal setup of the Wheelchair Basketball Association (Singapore) as the official sports organization promoting wheelchair basketball in Singapore.

The formation of such an association had been a dream of the Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC) and many basketballers from Handicapped Welfare Association (HWA) who had been training regularly over the years. Once, basketball was not only a popular sport for the able-bodied sporting community but also among many wheelchair-bound people. But as the able-bodied hobby died down with the closure of the Gay World at Geylang (a place where many sports matches like basketball and boxing used to be held), wheelchair basketball also suffered a downslide.

Nonetheless, many heartlanders continued to play basketball as a sport in schools and community centres. And so did the veteran wheelchair basketballers.

Although basketball suffered a downslide in Singapore, the sport’s popularity escalated in many other countries. According to our friends in Australia, where the world-ranked No. 2 wheelchair basketball team resides currently, their games were attended by crowds of more than 20,000 people during the peak seasons.

In the recent years, an increasing number of Singaporeans have come forth to show their interest in the sport, even from the able-bodied community. SDSC has thus seen a potential to revive this sport, allowing more people with disabilities to gain an additional outlet for their sporting needs, and also, to pave another way of integration between the different communities.

In 2007, SDSC was honoured to receive a grant from the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), allowing it to launch a Learn-To-Play initiative, which kicked off with a pool of beginner able-bodied players from Ngee Ann Polytechnic - the club otherwise known as “Wheel-Power”.

Not only that, with SDSC’s move towards increasing partnerships to boost sports participation and promotion, more sports interest groups have come forward to tap on its Interest Sports Group (ISG) Grant to realize their ambitions for their passions. One such group is the Wheelchair Basketball Association (WBA), which has successfully gained the seed funding and support from SDSC with well-laid plans and strategies.

The WBA aims to promote wheelchair basketball as a sport, not only for the disabled but for people of all ages and physical functionalities, regardless of gender. From that, they target to raise the overall standard and competitiveness of the sport in Singapore so that one day, the WBA will be a force to reckon with in Singapore.

Wheelchair Basketball

For those who wish to know more about the WBA and help them move towards their vision for wheelchair basketball in Singapore, feel free to email for more details or arrange a visit to their trainings. You may also visit the teams when they play at the 1st Wheelchair Basketball League in Singapore, beginning from 8 September 2007 at Jurong East Sports Hall. Find out more here!