The UNES Sant Feliu represents the spirit of wheelchair basketball, a mixture of integration and high competition.
"One thing is clear: here we are not disabled we have fun playing sports, here are athletes." The life of Ramon Gisbert, in a wheelchair since 1969 because of polio, has always been linked to the world of sport. As a player he became national champion table tennis team, and now retired from the court, has spent many years working in offices, from where he is struggling to bring the adapted sport where it deserves.
UNES in 1983 prompted the Sant Feliu, basketball club chair. Currently, the UNES has a men's team in the top national Honor Division A. The signing of an agreement with FC Barcelona, \u200b\u200bwhich will occur shortly, has already enabled the unification of the two teams and Barca-UNES-under Misol Osvaldo orders, former Argentina coach women's basketball team in the chair.
Bryce and Tom are two American players who have joined this season by FCB-UNES. Bryce, 24, was born with spinal cancer and although she could walk, chose to move to the wheelchair in order to achieve his dream: becoming a professional basketball player. "The demand was increasing ... and I could not. It was then I started with basketball adapted. "His dream was fulfilled last year when he decided to cross the pond because" in America the sport is more famous, but in Europe there is more money and the best players come here. "In his second year as career after being a season in France, Bryce has already another goal: to enter the U.S. team for the London Olympics. "I'm very competitive, so I'm here," he laughs.
, however, will difficult because your score is very high. And the chair basketball is governed by the compensation. Every player has a score ranging between 1 and 4.5, depending of disability: more involvement, less punctuation and, as the five players who are on track can not exceed 14.5 points, the coach can not align to all those who are more mobile.
The first team of wheelchair basketball in the United States born in the 1940's. The flying chairs, so they were called, was formed by people who had suffered war injuries and wanted to prove they could provide a spectacular game or more than their nondisabled peers, the vertical. "We're not here to pass the time, this is a competitive sport like any other," says Ramon. "The people who went to watch matches chair basketball (adapted sports flagship) at the Paralympics in Barcelona 92 \u200b\u200bspent the first few minutes saying 'oy, poor guy who falls', but then forgot about it and was hooked, "he adds.
With years, moreover, has shown that sport is key in the processes of rehabilitation and integration of persons with disabilities. "Exercise is an activity that incorporated into the rehabilitation program for the therapeutic benefits that implies, both in physically and psychologically, "agrees Jose Medina, head of functional rehabilitation of the Guttmann Institute, a pioneer in incorporating hospital physical activity treatments.
"My brothers can walk, I do not. But they still remain in Wisconsin and I'm here. I think I've had many more opportunities," added Tom, the other American to play this season in Sant Feliu. "People should not be afraid. Many disabled people believe they can never play like they are on track. Why not? If you train, you put forward and assume your role at some point end up replacing another," says Ramon, while see how the first team training. Why not?
report in El Pais www.elpais.com (10/26/2009)
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