• 
• 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
• 
  • 
  • 
  • 
• 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
• 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
• 
  • 
  • 
• 
  • 
  • 
• 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
• 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
• 
  • 
  • 
• 
• 
  • 
  • 
  • 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Sports >> Wheelchair Basketball

Venue: Keelapirom, Suranaree University of Technology

Wheelchair Basketball was originally developed by World War II veterans in the USA in 1945/1946. At the same time, Sir Ludwig Guttmann developed a similar sport named Wheelchair Netball at the Spinal Rehabilitation Hospital at Stoke Mandeville, Great Britain, to aid the rehabilitation of war veterans. When the US Wheelchair Basketball team, the Pan Am Jets, competed for the first time at the International Stoke Mandeville Games in 1955, there were no backboards owing to the British sport being Netball. This was amended for the following year's Games. Since then, the sport has developed worldwide and was introduced to the Paralympic Programme in Rome in 1960.

It is one of the most popular sports in the Paralympic Games. Designed for athletes who have a physical disability that prevents running, jumping and pivoting, wheelchair Basketball is open to male or female athletes and is played by two teams of five players each.

Depending on their functional abilities, a point value from 0.5 (most severely disabled) to 4.5 is given to each player. Five players out of 12 from each team are on the court during playtime and throughout the game, the total point value of each team must not exceed 14 points.

The aim of each team is to score into the opponents' basket and to prevent the other team from gaining control of the ball or scoring. The measurements of the court and the height of the baskets are the same as in able-bodied Basketball. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the world governing body for Wheelchair Basketball, and in 2006, the sport was practiced by athletes in 77 countries.

Classification
Classification is based upon sport-specific tests of shooting, passing, rebounding, pushing and dribbling, rather than a medical diagnosis or muscle function examination.

There are eight classifications based upon functional ability to play Wheelchair Basketball (Classes 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0 and 4,5), with higher classification numbers representing greater skills.

For further information concerning Wheelchair Basketball classification, please go to: http://www.iwbf.org/

Available Events

- Men’s Team

See Event Schedule

Rules
The Wheelchair Basketball competition shall follow the latest International Wheelchair Basketball Committee (IWBF) rules. For information, please go to http://www.iwbf.org and look under The Game->Rules.

Competition shall consist of four periods of 10 minutes. Break between each period is 2 minutes.

Half-time will be 15 minutes and extra time shall be for five minutes.

Technology and Equipment

Court: The field of play intended for Wheelchair Basketball matches has no differences compared to that of Olympic Basketball. It is a rectangular hard surface 28 metres long and 15 metres wide. For official national and international matches, a wooden floor is required.

Ball: The ball must be an approved single shade of orange with eight traditionally shaped panels and black seams. The outer surface is made of leather, synthetic leather, rubber or synthetic material. The ball may have a circumference of 74.9 to 78cm and weight between 567 to 650gr.

Wheelchair: The wheelchair is considered to be part of the player. It has either three or four wheels - i.e. two large wheels at the back and one or two small wheels at the front of the chair. The wheelchair may also have one or two anti-tip devices utilizing no more than a total of two small castors attached to either the frame or the rear axle and located at the rear of the wheelchair. The tyres may be of any colour as long as they do not mark the floor. All competition chairs must meet the specifications set by the IWBF.