WELLINGTON COUNTY – A local teacher and an international star athlete are bringing wheelchair basketball to students and staff of the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB).
Drayton Heights Public School teacher Andy Speers and Paralympic gold medalist and Fergus native Patrick Anderson are starting a new program in September with the board.
“I hope that kids will learn a little about people with disabilities, and that some of us have spent many years trying to master this tough sport because people with disabilities have big dreams too,” Anderson said.
“Maybe they’ll have a chance to learn or be reminded that (what) we have in common is more meaningful than our differences.”
The Patrick Anderson Wheelchair Basketball Program will be available to all schools in the board.
“We want [students] to understand that whole idea of inclusion and that every game on Earth can be modified to make sure no one sits on the sidelines,” Speers said.
“By tweaking your rules a little bit, changing your equipment, just those little changes can create a whole new game and open opportunities to anyone to play.
The second lesson, he added, is “kids should never judge a book by its cover. Just because someone has any form of disability – it doesn’t have to be a physical disability, any form of disability – doesn’t mean that they can’t do incredible things.”
Anderson said the familiarity of basketball is the key to learning.
“There’s something about doing the familiar (playing basketball) in an unfamiliar way (in a wheelchair) that unlocks fun and learning of a different kind,” he stated in an email to the Wellington Advertiser.
“Because everyone is sitting down and trying to move without the use of their legs and feet, the advantages of height and raw athleticism are muted.
“That levels the playing to some degree, which encourages students to call upon other resources, like adaptability, creativity and teamwork.”
Schools can register to be one of 30 to 35 schools to host the program each year. The program has the potential to influence over 6,000 students a year.
“We’re very excited that we’re going to be able to roll this out to more schools the next school year,” said UGDSB spokesperson Heather Loney.
Schools will be provided 16 sport wheelchairs for a week to do whatever they’d like.
While the sport wheelchairs will probably be handled most easily by students from Grade 4 and up, Speers said the program could be modified to include younger students.
“You just change your way of doing things, so … even playing games, getting moving in the chairs, just trying to move around,” Speers said.
He also encourages teachers to give it a try.
“That’s part of the hope as schools are going to get these chairs for a full week … use it as kind of a team bonding experience or learning experience for teachers as well,” Speers said.
“It’s equally important for them as it is for the students.”
When asked about what great things students will experience with the game, Anderson responded, “the fun and beauty of limitations.
“It’s like soccer. Soccer asks, what can you do with a ball when you can’t use half your limbs? Wheelchair basketball asks the same question. It just takes away different limbs.”
Anderson added this change could also be one of the students’ biggest challenges.
“It’s hard to convince your brain to send messages to your hands that it usually sends to your feet; ‘Let’s move over here.’ ‘Come on, let’s go get that ball.’”
UGDSB equity lead Jessica Rowden said she was impressed with one of the program’s pilot sessions.
“The students were … Quite in awe of the physicality and competency of skills and so there was a lot of appreciation, I believe, for the additional skills, thinking, etcetera, that happen when you’re modifying a program,” said Rowden.
Speers and Anderson have put together instructional videos as well as pre- and post-discussion questions.
“The kids and teachers are going to be taught wheelchair basketball directly from the best player in the entire world,” Speers said of his friend Anderson.
It was their partnership that encouraged Bob and Lynn Cameron, owners of Heritage River Retirement Residence in Elora, to sponsor all 16 wheelchairs, at a cost of about $18,000.
“The fact that those two are leading it, I know it will be a huge success,” Bob Cameron said.
He added Anderson is “kind of the Wayne Gretzky of wheelchair basketball. He’s arguably the best player … he’s an incredible role model, so having him do the demonstration video and inspirational video for this program is pretty incredible.”
Anderson worked with his sponsor RGK, a UK-based sport wheelchair manufacturer, to source the chairs for the program.
RGK agreed to sell the Patrick Anderson Wheelchair Basketball Program high-end sport wheelchairs for the entry level price, Speers explained.
“They’re not the basic chairs, they’re the Cadillac of wheelchair basketball,” Cameron said. “So everybody’s sort of pitching in and making it feasible.”
He added the program also caught his interest because basketball has always been a part of his family’s life.
“It’s not as much about me writing a cheque, it’s what Andy’s doing to make this come to life,” Cameron said.
“The amount of work behind the scenes that he’s doing and Patrick committing to do a demonstration and phoning the sponsors and doing a video.”
Speers said the program name honours Anderson, a former Centre Wellington student.
“If you’re going to name a program … why not go with the best in the world, right?” Speers said.
“And I thought that … was really important and that’s going to open up a lot more learning opportunities as well and hopefully teachers will look into who Pat is and all that stuff before they get the program.”
When he was nine years old Anderson was struck by a drunk driver and lost both of his legs below the knee.
He discovered wheelchair basketball in Grade 5 at James McQueen Public School in Fergus and the principal, Russ Spicer, heard about a wheelchair sports camp for kids.
“It’s hosted by a wheelchair basketball club called the Twin City Spinners in Kitchener-Waterloo,” said Anderson. “That camp changed my life. The Spinners became my second home for many years after that.”
Anderson went on to win multiple Paralympic gold medals for Team Canada.
It was a Drayton Heights PS trip to see Anderson play and a visit from him to the school that inspired the wheelchair basketball program.
“It just created a buzz … so then we were like, ‘we’ve got to follow this up, we’ve got to try something,’” Speers said.
This is not Speers’ first time starting a program that promotes inclusion in the UGDSB. He also spearheaded the board’s Sledge Hockey Program five years ago.
