Out & About April 2017

Support

It’s not just the sport that brings and keeps the Kings together. “It helped me lots with fitness and to make other friends,” he says. “It’s so hard to describe, it’s just great fun,” says club captain Wayne Burton, who was paralysed from the chest down in a horse racing accident nine years ago. Wayne points out there is always something to learn and it’s not just the physical aspects of the game such as passing, but in some respects it’s the mental element that improves. “Communication is a great thing in this game – without communication and that team bond it all falls apart,” he says. Club member Vickie Simmonds tells me that the Kings has given her a new outlook on life after she was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, a group of rare inherited conditions that affect connective tissue. “I’ve kind of been losing my mobility for six years,” she says. Vickie, 25, explains that she was unhappy before joining the Kings and had been thinking about moving back in with her parents. “I didn’t have much confidence, but I realised there was so much I could do, seeing people with different disabilities overcoming them and working together as a team.” “I never had the confidence before, but I finally thought I would give it a go and joined in 2015. I didn’t think I would be good at it, but it’s completely changed my life.” Vickie says that her confidence has improved so much since joining the Kings that she has learned to drive and is living alone. She says that the focus on the sport and not people’s disabilities had changed player’s attitudes off the court and transferred into personal achievements. Wayne has also seen the club and players grow: “I have been here since we have had a team in the league. We have come from the bottom to where we are now [the Kings have three league teams – in south west division 3, division 4 and an U19s team, the latter is currently top of its league], so I feel quite proud of being part of the team that’s got where we are. We have bonded together, being kind of a family I suppose. Everyone has different types of injuries, but we all put that aside and all play basketball. “Some of us don’t work or have great social lives so it’s something to look forward to once or twice a week.” Able-bodied players have also experienced the feelgood factor of the Kings, as coach and player Peter Rapley explains to me. Peter has been involved with the club since their first friendly match, and then attended a training session. “I just love it. I can’t play running basketball to save my life. It’s like a second family. It’s one, if not the only, sport where able- bodied and disabled people can play together as equals, which is fantastic. “Everyone has different disabilities and issues outside and forgets about them on the court. Everyone just comes together to have fun and this year, hopefully, win.”

WAYNE BURTON

VICKIE SIMMONDS

Find out more about the Thames Valley Kings at www.berkshirewheelchairbasketball.co.uk For more information about wheelchair basketball visit www.gbwba.org.uk/gbwba/welcome.htm

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