Meet the only junior wheelchair basketball team here in the Beehive State – the Utah Rush. This team with 13 and 18-year-olds is recognized by the National Wheelchair Basketball Association, and is the only team of its kind in the state.
“I absolutely love it,” said Jackson Meier. He is 16 years old, has only one leg, and joined the team back in July. “It’s like one of my favorite things to do in the world.”
These players use wheels to fly on the basketball court. They play the sport a little differently.
“It’s way more physical, there’s just a lot of aggression than you’d think and it’s so much fun,” said Meier.
Adam Lindsay has been coaching the team for about 13 years. It all started when his son had an injury and couldn’t play able-bodied sports anymore.
“Wheelchair basketball is awesome. But it’s really a tool for a lot, especially at the kid level. To teach independence.”
Lindsay said there is a lack of awareness around the sport.
“There’s always this stigma of playing a sport in a chair,” he explained. “It’s no different than an athlete like a football player putting on a helmet, wearing shoulder pads, wearing cleats, it’s gear, part of the sport.”
He said the kids move on from this court to bigger hoops.
“We’ve had 4 of our players over the last 13 years go play at the paralympic level," he said. "We’ve had 10-15 go play collegiate ball on scholarship money.”
It is an expensive sport. Lindsay said the teams spend around $40,000 every year on travel. And the wheelchairs can be about $5000-6000.
Families come out to practices, championing their kids. Jeff Peterson’s son, Gavin, has spina bifida and has played on the team for the past couple of years.
“Hard work, perseverance, in life in general," said Peterson. "It gives you something to strive for. Gavin has big dreams of playing wheelchair basketball at college already and he hopes to be in the Olympics one day.”
“When you come to watch it, you’ll be addicted,” said Lindsay. “I think it’s way better than able-body basketball. A lot of contacts, fast, pretty intense.”
It’s a community on and off the court.
“My favorite part about like the people is that we all have disabilities, per se," said Meier. "So you can like relate to people like Michelle, my teammate, she also is missing a leg, so really cool to talk about our experiences."
The team is practicing for the western conference championship at Weber State on February 11-12, and is a team to watch out for.
