The Green Bulldogs recently added their newest competitive sports team. The Green Bulldog co-ed wheelchair basketball team started their first season with a win against Cloverleaf. The team consists of different types of athletes, some that need the wheelchair and some that do not. Regardless, every player on the court uses a wheelchair at all times. The rules state that there must be two players on the court at all times that need the wheelchair. Otherwise, all the other rules and regulations are the same as any other basketball game.
“This has been three years in the making. Adaptive Sports Ohio reached out three years ago with hopes of starting a team at Green. However, timing wasn’t right and gym space was an issue and we couldn’t make it work,” Director of Student Services Joya Mitchell said.
Due to the unfortunate timing, the idea of this team was put on the shelf until this year. Once there were opportunities for a team to be created, the district worked with Adaptive Sports Ohio to get it up and running. Not only have they started a wheelchair team at the high school, but they also took over a week of gym classes in the elementary schools to let the younger kids learn and have that experience.
“Adaptive Sports Ohio does a PE takeover day where they spend all day in each of our gym classes and they talk about wheelchair basketball and show the kids how to play. Then our kids on our team were able to participate in that day as well as their coach,” Mitchell said.
The district is going above and beyond to make Green sports a more inclusive community. Though it is overdo, and they wanted to make this change years ago, there are now more opportunities for kids who otherwise would not have been able to truly participate. The hope is that the program will continue to grow and give all types of students opportunities in the future. The team this year started off string with six athletes participating.
“This is a sport, and it is a team that will go through the athletic department. If students are interested they can reach out to Mr. Muzi or myself if they want to get involved,” Mitchell said.
The Bulldogs have a set schedule for the rest of the year consisting of home and away games. The home games are held in the main gym at GHS and include the Mighty Dogs cheer team. Their next game is Saturday Jan. 27 at North Canton. The team is looking forward to completing their first season and representing Green High School.
