It was a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon when several wheelchair basketball enthusiasts gathered in the gymnasium at Douglas College New Westmister Campus for the 3rd All Comers Festival to share the love of the sport with a group of wide eyed new comers.
Fourteen participants, both new and experienced spent nearly four hours sharing their ideas and skills. The afternoon began with a few rounds of warm up games lead by Junior Provincial team members Jack Kosterman and Justin Johnson, and a second round lead by women’s provincial team member Steph Park. The group finished off warm up with a group stretch and introductions of names.
The athletes were broken into teams of three to play three on three scrimmages with one experienced player on each team. Between each of the four games there were skills sessions and shooting games for each player to show their skills to the rest of the group.
The referee clinic was hosted in conjunction with the Festival as well. Eight referees, both veterans and new, who attended the clinic helped the participants with officiating the scrimmages.
Snacks were provided through the event and Bridging the Gap coordinator Holly asked some tribia questions on London Paralympics to the participants for a prize. By the end of the day, the first timers that were a little shy at the beginning were putting their big smile on their face and seemed pretty comfortable in their sport chair.
The afternoon’s festivities were hosted by Bridging the Gap and BC Wheelchair Basketball Society. Over all the day was a great success!
