GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Michigan's first all-women wheelchair basketball team debuted this weekend, with 12 women representing Mary Free Bed.
15-year-old Ginessa Aguire is one of 12 players on the Mary Free Bed Women’s basketball team. She loves shooting hoops.
“It's so awesome because you don't feel left out, it's very competitive which I love,” said Aguire. She describes the team as just like being around family.
The team is brand new to the National Wheelchair Basketball Association’s Women's Division.
Christy Vanhaver is the Recreational Therapist and Sports Coordinator with Mary Free Bed. She says she's excited to see where the team goes.
“A lot of them are coming from co-ed teams where maybe, they don't get a lot of playing time or they play a different role, and now they get to be the ball handler to be the person that gets to shoot the ball,” explained Vanhaver.
Although the team is made up of all women, their disabilities differ.
“Neurocognitive, so they might have spina bifida, spinal cord injury, and they might be an amputee, you know, different disabilities like that, that don't allow them to play basketball,” said Vanhaver.
But the players don’t let that stop them from balling out and giving their all on the court. They will be playing against co-ed teams before traveling to women-only tournaments the rest of the season.
“It's a long season, we play from September to April and we play weekend tournaments because we travel out of state,” said Vanhaver.
This was their only home tournament for the entire season. It was also the second day of the Mary Free Bed Invitational Adult Wheelchair Basketball Tournament, with ten teams and over 100 athletes from all over the greater Midwest, Ontario and Canada.
“I'm really excited to see as they come together and they gel as a team and they they work on their skill sets, the success that we will see,” said Vanhaver.
The ladies will be one of 13 women’s teams competing in the National Wheelchair Basketball tournament in April.
