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Wheelchair basketball players work out at Irving Gym during the NWBA/PVA camp. More than 150 players and coaches are participating in the camp, which ends June 1. (Tim Underhill photo)
For the third straight year, Ball State is hosting the NWBA/PVA National Basketball Camp. About 150 coaches and players from around the world are on campus through June 1 to participate in the only wheelchair camp in the United States.
"This camp puts us on the map," said Daniel Byrnes, camp director and director of athletic facilities. "People are aware of Ball State all over the world because we run the only wheelchair camp."
The camp has found a home at Ball State due to the university's outstanding reputation for providing access to all facilities for the handicapped.
"One-hundred and fifty wheelchairs does not intimidate Ball State because of our handicapped-accessible residence halls and recreation facilities," Byrnes said. "There was talk to moving the camp to a university in California, but they didn't want the wheelchairs on their basketball courts. They wanted us outside."
Byrnes is the head coach of the U.S. National Wheelchair Team that will play October in the Paralympics in Australia.
The five-day camp features various basketball drills and other types of instruction. Coaches from around the world are attending to pick up tips for their own programs.
"I am very impressed with all expertise available and how well organized this camp is," said Kihong Kim, a special physical education professor at Yong-In University in South Korea. "Wheelchair basketball is picking up in popularity in my country. A game was recently televised by one of our national television networks."
In Jordan, like most of the Middle East, wheelchair basketball camps are rare. But, Lina Abu-Namous, 32, who heads up her country's national wheelchair team, was taking plenty of notes to take back home.
"We would like to do something like this back in Jordan for the entire Middle East," said Abu-Namous, who starred as point guard on the Jordanian national men's team as a 14-year-old. "What I like are the different philosophies from all the coaches. It is fun to listen to 12 different coaches talk about offense and defense."
Watching the players bang chairs under the boards and scramble for loose balls are several referees, including Shawn Thayer, 24, a Ball State student majoring in business.
He's keeping a keen eye on the players to better understand wheelchair basketball.
"It is much different than refereeing high school games here in Indiana or intramural on the college level," Thayer said. "You can hear a lot of contact when the chairs slam into each other.
"This is also a great opportunity to learn because there aren't so many chances to get game experience," he said. "Plus, it helps to make contacts on the international level. You never know when you can get work in other countries or in other tournaments."
By Marc Ransford, Communications Manager
(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Byrnes by e-mail at dbyrnes@bsu.edu or by phone at (765) 285-1753. For information about Ball State's efforts to make campus handicapped accessible, go to the Web site www.bsu.edu/dsd.)
