Paralympians create a program to help rebuild women’s wheelchair basketball

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The countdown to Brisbane Paralympics is on and pressure is mounting on the Australian women’s wheelchair basketball team the Gliders. The squad needs to rebuild after missing qualification for the Paris games. In this special report we speak with some dedicated athletes who are working hard to create more opportunities for women to play as well as scouting for our next wheelchair basketball superstars.

Transcript

00:00London feels like a lifetime ago, but it was one of the most incredible experiences that

00:11I've ever had.

00:12Winning a silver medal at the 2012 Paralympics was one of Leanne Del Toso's proudest moments.

00:19The gliders have a rich history at the Paralympics, but in recent years the team has faced an

00:25uphill battle to be at their best.

00:27Significantly, they missed qualification for Rio and Paris.

00:32Despite the struggle, Del Toso and former team-mate Shelley Matheson want to see more women have

00:37opportunities to play.

00:39It's really important that women with disability connect socially and have a safe place to belong.

00:47We want to bring as many women into what we think is the superior sport and get them involved

00:52in basketball.

00:54From grassroots to the National League, women and girls aren't getting the support they

00:59need to participate.

01:00The number one problem is that there's just not enough women playing wheelchair basketball

01:04and the pipeline just isn't there for more people coming through.

01:07Women in general aren't encouraged as much to play sport and I think that's especially

01:10true for women with disability.

01:12Outside influences have severely impacted the sport.

01:16Women at the junior levels, women are having to play with men and they're not able to then

01:20develop themselves.

01:21I guess they get turned off the sport in lots of ways.

01:24There's also concerns around funding.

01:26There's kind of an expectation that you're training like you're a professional athlete.

01:29We obviously don't have the economic incentives to be doing that.

01:32There's also issues around venue access and gender parity.

01:41Obviously being a mum is number one for me, but having to reduce the amount of time and

01:47effort I put into basketball is personally really challenging for me.

01:50In a statement, Basketball Australia says it's committed to the long term growth and success

01:59of the sport and recognises the challenges that exist in participation, development and

02:05high performance outcomes.

02:08It says it's working with stakeholders to strengthen their programs.

02:12With the focus now on the Brisbane games, the hope is that more grassroots opportunities

02:17will become available in the sport for disabled women and girls across the country.

02:23Del Toso and Matheson have developed the Play On program in Victoria to encourage women

02:28and girls to get involved, a program they would like to see replicated across the country.

02:35We actually just need everybody and so I think the more that we can build up the grassroots

02:40level the more it benefits the Australian team.

02:43I know what the sport gave me and I just want to give that back to any female who wants

02:49to compete in wheelchair basketball.

02:51Rebuilding the sport for future generations.

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