Asian Para Games 2018: The Story of Basketball Team Formation
Sports wheelchair basketball will be one of the sports that will be contested at the 2018 Asian Para Games in October 2018. Basketball is still a new sport for people with disabilities in Indonesia. Therefore, the formation of the first Indonesian wheelchair basketball team became a challenge itself.
Indonesia has Donald Putra Santoso, the wheelchair basketball player who once defended the United States Phoenix Suns club. Donald was appointed captain of a team of 12 players. Team selection was first made in December 2017.
Still at least enthusiasts and support for sports for people with disabilities is quite troublesome selection process. Even so, starting January 2018, 12 players consisting of various cities in Indonesia successfully collected.
“The average background of players is not basketball, some of them are from tennis wheelchairs, badminton wheelchairs, some are playing racing tracks, but basically sports teams,” Donald said when met in South Tangerang on Monday, June 25, 2018.
Without any basketball technique, wheelchair basketball athletes start everything from scratch. Even so, the Indonesian Basketball Chairman Fajar Briliyanto said that every athlete still has the basic capability to control the wheelchair (chair skill) is qualified.
“Chair skill is number one, we take (selection of players) from there.If the chair skill is good, then we teach the basics like lay-up and shooting, so it’s faster,” said Fajar.
This process has been running for the past four months. Indonesia national team also has departed to Thailand which incidentally has a strong wheelchair basketball team. Fajar said his team got many lessons from the training camp.
Not only that, they also get loan assistance from Thailand for wheelchair specifically for this sport. Currently Fajar said the procurement of a wheelchair for the Indonesian national team is still not completed and must use a wheelchair loan.
On Monday, the Indonesian Basketball Chess Team held a test against Thailand at Basketball Field of British School Jakarta, South Tangerang. The result Indonesia lost a landslide with a score of 9-60.
Even so, Donald who only played in one quarter admitted not too disappointed with this result. Moreover, in terms of experience, the Indonesian team is far behind compared to Thailand which he called has 10 to 15 years earlier developed a wheelchair basket in his country.
“To me the same as my friends, the target is that we can make a base foundation of wheelchair basketball program after Asian Para Games, so there will be awareness (in the community),” Donald said.
With more awareness in sports related societies to disable it, Donald expects interest in this sport can increase. From there, he believes there will be more potential players that can be owned by the Indonesian national team.
Therefore, Donald admitted did not want to tantalize the target of medal target in Asian Para Games 2018 later. Currently the main target is to increase confidence and foster interest in the community. “Maybe next year’s next target is the Manila SEA Games,” Donald said.
courtasy: Tempo.co
photo: Asian Games 2018 – Tempo.co
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