Wayne Chase & Waikato Waikato Wheelchair Basketball
Getting young people with disabilities access to the hauora benefits of being part of a group that particulates in physical activities. While focused on rangatahi with disabilities, this program is fully inclusive and has grown significantly with Wayne taking over the reins in 2023.
We have seen the massive growth of basketball over the past 10 years but adapted forms of the game have not kept up with this growth and there has been limited exposure and opportunities for young people with disabilities to get involved with the game. Wayne has seen the need to get more young people and women involved in the game and has reached out to Parafed Waikato, Basketball New Zealand and other people in the community to help support opportunities for people to play. Wayne wanted the profile of the sport to be lifted and so Basketball NZ booked court space alongside Waikato Basketball so that the game would be visible and be seen to be connected to the wider basketball community. Wayne sought funding to allow high school aged players to form a team an play in a 6 week social league that he organized and brought in teams from local businesses to enter teams into this league. This ended up being a highly successful 6 team competition that was built for people with disabilities but was fully inclusive for anyone who wanted to play. This approach overcame the lack of player numbers needed to make the competition successful. Wayne has also worked very successfully with Parafed Waikato who he negotiated with to provide the key piece of equipment needed to play the game (sports wheelchairs).
Wayne saw the need for there to be a wider variety of options for young people to get involved in the game and approached Parafed Waikato to organize a taster day and worked together with them and Rapid Relief to put together a fun and enjoyable day. Upon seeing that there was a desire from the community to play the game, Wayne approached Basketball NZ to arrange some court space, uniforms, balls, pumps and other things required to run some weekly sessions for these young people. This was a collaborate approach between Wayne, Waikato Wheelchair Basketball, Parafed Waikato,Basketball NZ and a few local sponsors. This lead to the rangatahi being able to form a team, practice and head away to play in Whangārei in a National tournament with Wayne as coach and organizer. Since Wayne started, Wakato Wheelchair Basketball has grown from one men's team to 3 Waikato teams with a very wide variety of participants. These players have had the opportunity to train, play in a Waikato social league and travel away to play in tournaments. Being fully inclusive age, ability, gender and lack of funding are barriers that Wayne has removed to make this a huge success. This has been happening for only 6 months since March 2023.
Wayne, the people and groups that he has collaborated with has made his basketball sessions fun, created a strong sense of belonging and achievement making Waikato Wheelchair Basketball a safe place for anyone who wants to play. While Wheelchair Basketball is mainly a game for people with physical disabilities, Wayne has said yes and invited in anyone who wants to play which has included people are traditionally excluded from mainstream sport and basketball. Whereas the traditional sport model is based on ability (A/B/C Grade), gender (Boys/Girls/Mens/Womens) and age (U13/U16/U18/Senior) Wayne has ignored these traditional labels and barriers to create a group, teams and league where none of these are used to exclude people from participation. Wayne has people of all genders (including non-binary) ages and abilities playing with and against each other. This is not easy as Wayne has senior NZ representative level players all the way down to pre-teen first year players and everyone in between. Wayne's attitude, approach and ability to focus participants on the things that actually matter has created a space where anyone and everyone is valued and free to participate. This also extends to young people with intellectual disabilities and people who are dealing with anxiety, depression and other mental health issues. Wayne has listened to what the participants and their whānau are looking for and has provided them with not only opportunities to participate in the Waikato but all around the country.
We know that this is working because Wheelchair Basketball in Waikato has grown from 6 to 8 guys getting together to train once a week for a Waikato representative team to 3 teams of players traveling to Auckland for the final round of the National League this September. Prior to this there was no opportunity to play actual games in Waikato and Wayne has successfully piloted a weekly league for participants. Prior to Wayne's initiatives, if you lived in he Waikato and wanted to play basketball, you had to be either a high performance wheelchair player or conform to the restrictions imposed by Waikato Basketball or Special Olympics. Now this sport is open to anyone who wants to play and we can see that it is successful due to the growth in numbers. Wayne has taken the game from 8 high performance players to over 40 participants of all abilities in only 6 months. Talking to players it's clear that they not only enjoy the physical fitness that has come with regular participation but also the mental health benefits, making new friends, meeting new people, travel and sense of belonging in the environment that Wayne has been able to lead.
Parents of primary, intermediate and high school aged students who have taken part in Waikato Wheelchair Basketball have told us that their children have really enjoyed the social side and learning new skills. They have also told us that the things their children are learning about how to deal with adversity, frustrations, winning, losing, kindness, empathy, care for others, competition and all the other things they are learning through their involvement is something that they don't get anywhere else in their lives, even at school. Older players with disabilities have told us that they too have enjoyed learning new skills and being able to not only learn new things, but be part of a team. The more experienced players have appreciated the opportunity to play rather than simply train and have said that they have enjoyed the competition and being able to pass on a little bit to some of the younger players. What I have seen is not only the joy that people have experienced, but also the struggle, hard work and all the ups and downs that people experience from sport. From a Basketball New Zealand perspective, we are excited that Wayne is providing opportunities for more people to get involved with the game but are even more happy with the positive health and community outcomes that the participants have told us about.
