Wayne Chase is a member of New Zealand Wheelchair Basketball team and is currently the coach of the Youth Waikato Wheelchair Basketball team. From March to September, Wayne lent his expertise to Parafed Waikato, tirelessly working to propel Wheelchair Basketball into the heart of the Waikato community. Within this relatively short period, Waikato Wheelchair Basketball Club has grown from having one men’s training session and team to having three teams and a social league with involvement from all parts of the community but with focus on young people getting involved. This has fuelled inclusivity and physical activity among the youth.
Wayne Chase since coaching has endeavored to promote Wheelchair Basketball as a safe, fair, and inclusive sport. Just two weeks into his appointment Wayne with the help of Parafed sports staff organized and led a Have a -go day session as a way of giving an opportunity to newbies/experienced, young/adults and parents/siblings to play the sport. The focus was on everyone having a go regardless of the differences in abilities in a relaxed and fun way. About thirty people turned up which was recorded as one of the highest turn-ups of wheelchair basketball days in recent times. I have attached a photo taken on this day. Furthermore, within this short time, Wayne exhibited an enthusiasm in offering something more than regular basketball to the youth team. Against this backdrop, Wayne smartly tapped into the 3x3 basketball version as a way to develop the playing skills and increase the active participation time for each player. With the help of Basketball New Zealand Wayne designed and engaged the disabled youth in the community in a 10-week 3x3 wheelchair youth league, an average of three teams were recorded each week. This had an impact on the team's skills, giving them the opportunity to participate in all three rounds of the National League Championships (the youth team played as Waikato B and Waikato C) as well as the North Island Championships. Two of the youth members made the NZ B Division tournament team.
Wayne always attaches a high level of professionalism during his training sessions. Wayne often engaged parents in helping out with training sessions e.g., keeping the time in training games. This often created a positive feeling for the youth knowing that their parents have a shared interest in their chosen sport. The training sessions were also organised in a manner that allowed them to enjoy the session while encouraging positive words. A few times, Wayne would pick some of them from home to training and drop them off after the training, just to make sure they did not miss the opportunity to train with their friends. This built confidence and trust between Wayne and the team members, such that Wayne could let some of them lead the training sessions with their peers. This not only built confidence for those who led the training but also provided a different and conducive environment for all of them to learn from each other in a fun way. He often uses phrases such as ‘hard luck’ to encourage them when they can’t execute a task and constructively criticise them.
The overall team number has grown from one to three with the potential of growing further. There was an average of three teams every week during the 10 weeks of the 3X3 league. Immediately, following the 3x3 league, the was strong interest among parents and players for a social league. The social league which was held here in Hamilton at the Peak attracted six teams with one team (UMC Airballers) coming over from Matamata to play each week. Subsequently, the team from Matamata having enjoyed the experience with the help of Wayne organised a similar social league in Matamata that attracted about four teams. This is quite unprecedented – two social leagues happening in the same calendar year. At the beginning of the season (this year), the youth team trained on one court with the senior team at the Peak – due to the growth of the team it has called for the need to hire an additional court solely for the youth team.
Anytime I visited the training, the attendance was high, and all players were fully involved. Most of them will help in setting up the training, for example, they will bring out the chairs in the trailer and pack back into the trailer after training. In tournaments where we played together, I observed the players showed a positive sense of self even after they lost a game. I noticed they were not interested in winning but enjoying and developing their skills and strengths as a team. As mentioned earlier, I have also heard the same requests from players asking for the possibility of an additional court for them to make training easier which will also increase their interaction with Wayne. Wayne is currently out of contract and will only be re-engaged based on the availability of funds for next year. Some of the players have requested that he should be re-contracted if funds become available as they would enjoy his interactions and relationship with them.
