Wheelchair basketballers provide children a new spin on sport

The stigma surrounding disabilities falls away as young minds embrace the realities those with disabilities face in their day-to-day lives.

Jannick Blair was just 11-years-old when he was first introduced to wheelchair basketball.

A group visited his school to showcase the sport and Blair recalls the visit; his whole school getting involved and the experience being “the best thing ever”.

“I remember it was awesome for us and we had such a good time,” he said.

“I guess that kind of opened my eyes to it all before I had my accident.”

About a year later Blair was driving his grandfather’s ute on their family property in Victoria when he crashed it, was thrown out of the window and broke his back.

“It’s kind of eerie … I remember thinking this was the best thing ever and wishing I could do it every day and not so long later I was doing it every day,” he said.

Now, an accomplished wheelchair basketballer member of the Red Dust Heelers, Blair travels around to regional communities like Hedland for an engagement program showcasing the abilities of people with a disability.

It’s a program that gives Blair the opportunity to break down boundaries for children in the hopes of making a difference and raising education and awareness about inclusion and disabilities.

Adam Deans joined the Heelers two years ago, around the same time as Blair, with the pair jokingly labelling themselves a “package deal”.

Deans lost his leg due to an osteosarcoma at the end of his thigh bone, which was found after he broke his leg following a fall down some stairs.

The injury caused his tumour to break further, causing the cancer cells to spread, which lead to medical staff deciding to amputate his lower leg.

Since getting involved in wheelchair basketball, Deans has been involved with the team which won the wheelchair basketball world championships in 2014 and he has also been named in the 14-man squad which will head to Rio for the Paralympics.

Deans said while having a go at a new sport like wheelchair basketball was fun for kids, it was also important to get them involved to break down the barriers between able-bodied people and disabled people.

“We hope that people will look at the person rather than the disability,” he said.

Despite going through trying situations, both Blair and Deans agreed they wouldn’t have their lives any other way.

“I was pretty fortunate to have my accident when I was pretty young,” Blair said.

“I was 12, so you’re still in the process of learning about everything and you’re body is still growing and you’re still learning about life and I think it’s probably easier to acquire a disability like that and still be in the learning process whereas if you’re a little bit older it might be a bit more challenging to overcome sort of what you’ve been used to for 30 or 40 years.

“You get used to life and being able to walk and the way that life works and then having a life changing experience may be a little bit harder at that age, but at 12 it was pretty seamless, I guess, to a certain extent.”

For Deans, having one leg was as simple as waking up and brushing his teeth.

“I’ve been an amputee for 11 years now so it’s just part of life … you just get up in the morning and put your leg on,” he said.

“You don’t really think twice about it until someone asks the question about it and then you can go into what would life be like if I did still have two legs … but I wouldn’t change a thing.”