The Rolling Grizzlies
“Believe in your infinite
potential. Your only limitations are those you set upon yourself.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
I had the privilege recently to attend a
Rolling Grizzlies basketball practice.
The Rolling Grizzlies are an extraordinary group of men in the local
Memphis area that can play some ball!
They play competitive basketball, and do it all in a wheelchair. Not all of the players have an injury, some players
join the team to play for fun. The
Rolling Grizzlies travel often for games, and are incredibly talented.
While watching the Rolling
Grizzlies, I was in awe of their coordination.
Not only did they dribble the ball with one hand, they would watch the
movements of the other players with their eyes, all while rolling their chairs
up and down the court. The amount of
endurance necessary for these gentlemen to achieve a two-hour practice is amazing
to me. They also were not shy with
falling out of their chairs or smashing their hands to be as competitive as
necessary.
I observed while watching the
players move up and down the court what upper extremity movement that they
had. One of the players had both of his
legs amputated, and many of the players seemed to be players with a full upper body movement,
meaning they more than likely had a T10-L1 SCI or L1-S5 SCI. One gentleman stood up at the end of
practice and was capable of ambulating with a walking assistive device, his injury either being a T10-L1 SCI or possibly a L1-S5 SCI.
I as well observed several of the players that had atrophy of their
lower limbs (visibly), but they made up for what they did not have in lower limb
strength with their amazing upper body strength!
I had the opportunity to chat with
one of the players after the practice.
He was 29, and said he had been in a wheelchair since middle school. He then persisted to ask me if I was a physical
therapy student and I politely told him no I was occupational therapy (which he said he
knew what it was) but said I still looked like a physical therapist. He then continued to tell me, as a future
therapist, to please keep in mind the availability of sports that are available for children and adults that are in a wheelchair. He said that when his parents found out about
wheelchair basketball when he was in middle school, his whole entire world
changed. He told me that it brought so
much “normal” back to his life, and for me to always make recommendations and
maybe even try and take a client to see them practice sometime to give them
some hope. He was a kind soul, with
great advice.
I left the practice that evening
with a grateful and inspired heart. They
found meaning and purpose in their new lives, and I hope to bring that to my clients
one day as well.
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Memphis-Rolling-Grizzlies-129140780501102/
Rolling Grizzlies website: http://www.nba.com/grizzlies/community/rollin_grizzlies.html
References
Bennett,
R.T. Quotes about limitations. Retrieved from
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/limitations
The
Rolling Grizzlies. 2017. Retrieved from
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