Pioneer Classic, Demolition Derby return to Lakeshore Foundation
When Lisa Hilborn is asked what a wheelchair basketball game is like, she points out the high action nature of the game and the athletic ability of its players. As a coach of the Lakeshore Lightning team, she believes wheelchair basketball athletes are often more talented than able-bodied athletes.
“Wheelchair basketball is far more cerebral than able-bodied basketball,” Hilborn said. “The ability to function exclusively by virtue of superior chair skills and an inability to move up the court makes one think five, six steps ahead.”
While wheelchair basketball is one of the most recognized wheelchair sports, another gaining in popularity is wheelchair rugby. Often depicted as a physical and at times violent sport, rugby’s wheelchair counterpart is no exception. In order to qualify for Lakeshore’s team, athletes must have impairment in all four limbs. Support staffer Meagan Rowe said that she has often seen athletes use skills that she would have never thought possible.
“To see how they can play the game with a lack of function in their hands is kind of amazing to see,” Rowe said.
Lakeshore’s teams will soon be put to the test in the training facility’s upcoming wheelchair basketball and rugby tournaments. Each tournament will invite teams across the country to compete.
This year, the Pioneer Classic Wheelchair Basketball Tournament will run for its 27th year. The tournament began in 1987 as an idea from Jo Fowler, a member of BellSouth’s community service organization, The Pioneers. Throughout the years, the tournament has invited championship division III college and junior level teams from across the country to compete. Some of the highest ranking teams in the country, including New York and Orlando, will attend. Both Lakeshore’s professional and youth teams will also enter the classic this year. Placing upper level teams and youth side by side, Hilborn said, is an important part of the tournament’s design.
“They get to compete right alongside a paralympian on another court,” she said. “[They have] the opportunity to say, ‘Oh my goodness, this is what I could do.’”
Winners of the Pioneer Classic Wheelchair Basketball Tournament will have their win count toward their standing to compete in the national tournament in Louisville in April.
Also upcoming is the Lakeshore’s Demolition Derby. It began 18 years ago and, like the Pioneer Classic, continues to invite teams throughout the nation. This year, eight teams, including the Lakeshore Demolition team, will compete. Several Lakeshore team members have already competed in the Paralympic games and have earned gold and bronze medals.
Each year, the events tend to draw a crowd, but Hilborn and Rowe believe that more community involvement is never a bad thing.
“One of the most important aspects for us at Lakeshore is for people to see these individuals as athletes in every sense of the word,” Hilborn said.
The Pioneer Classic will be hosted at Lakeshore from Jan. 16 to Jan. 18. The Demolition Derby will be hosted at Lakeshore from Jan. 30 to Feb. 1. Both events are free and open to the public to attend.
For more information, visit lakeshore.org.
Upcoming Tournaments
Pioneer Classic
Jan. 16-18
Look for Lakeshore's teams at the following times:
Championship Division: Friday 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on court 2
Division III: Friday 9 a.m. and noon on court 3
Youth: Saturday 10 a.m.-2:15 p.m. on court 1
For a full schedule of games, visit http://www.lakeshore.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/2015-Pioneer-Schedule.pdf.
Demolition Derby
Jan. 30-Feb. 1
Free and open to the public
Lakeshore Foundation
4000 Ridge Parkway