rules to play wheelchair basketball

Each classification will be given a numerical value or factor as follows Class 1 1 value point Class II 2 value points Class IIl 3 value points At no time in a game shall a team have players participating with total points greater than twelve (12) on the floor at the same time.

The official scorer is responsible for seeing that personnel on the floor for either team at any time does not exceed the twelve (12) points. (This only has to be checked at the start of each half and at the time of substitutions.) If, at any time during the game, it is identified that a team exceeds the player point limit, a Technical Foul is called against the team in violataion and handled as all other Technical Fouls, with a correction in the lineup being made at that time.

Athletes who have physical impairments that result in a lower limb physical limitation and those who are unable to play non disabled sport due to a long term permanent injury.

The Wheelchair Basketball competition at the Paralympic Games is played in wheelchairs and is open to athletes with a permanent physical impairment in the lower limb(s) which can be objectively verified. Impairments may include paraplegia, lower limb amputations, cerebral palsy, and polio. Not all players are daily wheelchair users, so athletes can be ambulant.

Wheelchair Basketball classification is based on the players functional capacity to complete the skills necessary to play pushing, pivoting, shooting, rebounding, dribbling, passing and catching.Players are classified by a points system from 1 to 4.5 with higher classification numbers representing those with the least physical impairment such as a lower limb permanent injury.Each squad can consist of up to 12 players, with only five players on the court at any one time. During a match a team must field five players whose cumulative classification does not exceed 14.0 points.

Center of gravity is where the chair and the athletes mass are equally distributed in all directions. Points at which the wheelchair can tip over sideways are the fulcrum. A wheelchair with a higher seat is easier to tip. Sports wheelchairs have lower seats and wheels that are angled outward so that the center of gravity has to move a greater distance before it passes over the fulcrum and tips the chair. Basketball wheelchairs are classified in two groups based on position. There are chairs for forwards and centers and there are chairs for guards. Forwards and centers are typically under the net. Their chairs have higher seats and therefore less mobility. However these athletes need to be able to reach for the ball such as for rebounds. Guards have lower seats and therefore greater mobility for ball handling and getting down the court as quickly as possible.

World championships for the sport have been held since 1973, with Bruges, Belgium being the first host city. The first ever world championship for men was won by Great Britain. In the 11 first mens world championships, 6 times have been won by the United States (1979, 1983, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002), Great Britain once (the first ever championship in 1973), Israel (1975), France (1990), Canada (2006) and Australia (2010). Canada has won four of the womens world championship titles (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006), and the United States two (1990, 2010).

In 1973, the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation (ISMGF) established the first sub section for wheelchair basketball. At that time ISMGF was the world governing body for all wheelchair sports.In 1989 ISMGF accepted for its former wheelchair basketball sub section to be named International Wheelchair Basketball Federation also known by the acronym IWBF.

Full independence came in 1993 with the IWBF becoming the world body for wheelchair basketball with full responsibility for development of the sport. Over the following years IWBF membership grew in size and based on the number of National Organizations for Wheelchair Basketball (NOWBs) with active programs, the international federation configured itself into four geographical zones Africa, Americas, Asia Oceania and Europe.

In 1944, Ludwig Guttmann, through the rehabilitation program at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital, in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, adapted existing sports to use wheelchairs. It was known as wheelchair netball.At around the same times, starting from 1946, wheelchair basketball games were played primarily between American World War II disabled veterans. Since then, the sport has spread throughout the world.The Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Games, held in 1947, were the first games to be held and included only a handful of participants (26), and few events (shot put, javelin, club throw, and archery).

Growth in both the number of wheelchair events and participants came quickly. Wheelchair netball was introduced in the 1948 Games. In 1952, a team from the Netherlands was invited to compete with the British team. This became the first International Stoke Mandeville Games (ISMG), an event that has been held annually ever since.Wheelchair basketball, as we know it now, was first played at the 1956 International Stoke Mandeville Games. The US Pan Am Jets team won the tournament.

The field of play intended for wheelchair basketball matches has no differences compared to that of Olympic basketball. It is a rectangular hard surface 28 metres long and 15 metres wide. For official national and international matches, a wooden floor is required.

The ball must be an approved single shade of orange with eight traditionally shaped panels and black seams. The outer surface is made of leather, synthetic leather, rubber or synthetic material. The ball may have a circumference of 74.9 to 78cm and weight between 567 to 650gr.