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Katie's Komets Shine At The A'Town BasketBall Summer SlamFest

July 31, 2022

ybsports staff column,

The stories you will hear from parent are moving and to some degree, gripping, but one thing that is clear about each parent and every participant, they have an unconditional love and admiration for the other. You can not only hear it in unison from the lungs of the parents, but you can feel it transitioning from the players to their parents as they compete, because they know they have their support structure there. It wasn’t too long that many of the watch party fans began to hear that something special was going on on one of the outer courts and the collective groups of people began to grow in layers. It’s hard to ignore when there’s a miracle developing close by.

IT’S A BEAUTIFUL THING AND I THANK WHATEVER FORCE IT WAS THAT PUT ME FRONT AND CENTER ON THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON!

It wasn’t made clear to me how the concept of getting this one game inked in by the powers that be for the tournament, but praise be to whomever made this decision, so let me set this up for you! It’s Wheelchair Basketball featuring kids from ages 5 to 18. many of them have endured life changing challenges but somehow all have the ability to play on a competitive level from a wheelchair. They may not be able to live life outside of their wheelchair, but their hopes and dreams are as big and as grand as any one of us so called able bodied persons. Take for example the young man who is headed to Edinboro for college in the fall. His hope there is to major in Psychology and play competitive wheelchair basketball. As I gathered as many of the young combatants together for a team photo, I yelled out, where is our next Olympian?! Of the six that was gathered there in that group, all of them raised their hands an in supporting tongues hollered back…I am1 Diversion is the greatest trick life has played on us to date, preventing many of us from seeing what we can truly become, so why bother! Right?

But every one of these young people who have challenges that are not of our day to day living, are not afflicted with that (can’t do it) gene pool as it seems, and that…Is a beautiful thing to hear! The difficulty in watching a game of this uniqueness being played is keeping oneself in place, in your seat, to keep from running out there and hugging each and every one of them one by one! That old self control…it could be a hard thing to hold in check, it gets whacked! We sometimes lose track of how blessed we really are, but we are quickly put back in our place when we are fortunate enough to take a look at the reality of our surroundings!

Getting back to the game, life on the court can be rough and tumble and as one parent explained to me, the kids know they can be in for a dogfight on game day, but that’s what makes this such a wonderful thing. The classes are split up into two divisions, one for the varsity and ages 13 to 18 and one for the JV level kids ages 5 to 12 and it’s all Co-ed. As another parent put it, the kids know how to gain an advantage during play. The game has rules that are quite simple in that a player can advance the basketball down court with two spins only of their wheels using their arm power in between dribbling! Any shot on basket is good if it goes and fouls ar in play if a player is knocked from their respective chair as it does get rough out there at times!

ybsports images;

Two Komet team mates look to split the defense of a New York defender in the first period.

A young New York JV player is all smiles after putting in the work at the end of the game.

Did I mention that life on the court can get quite hectic as one player tries to move the ball up court.

Players gather around the coach at halftime for some change of strategy instructions.

The intensity of play here shows the real value of determination as all eyes are on the ball after a rebound.

The ball isn't in play here but the girls are quickly headed into that direction seeking ball control.

The young man on the right will be headed to Edinboro University in the fall to begin his freshmen year.

The New York players gather around their coach to receive some new strategy advice.

JV players begin a charge for the ball

Players gather around for a group shot before heading off.

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