CHARLOTTE (Steve Goldberg's Wheel World) - The New York Times slogan is "All the news that's fit to print. The slogan of my column this week is "all the news that will fit."

Let's kick it off with some royal roundball.

Last time it was Prince Harry. This time around, it's his brother Prince William who tested his chair game at an event promoting Great Britain's SportsAid. It took the third in line for the crown, an appropriate three tries to make a shot, which is still far better than what it took the person writing this on his first try at shooting while sitting.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were introduced to former and current GB players and SportsAid alumni Ade Adepitan, Gregg Warburton to learn more about the sport.

SportsAid’s annual wheelchair basketball competition – the #SupportTheNext Trophy – is a popular fundraiser and broadens the scope of awareness for the game and accessibility as the vast majority of participants who compete each year are able-bodied. Having the royal couple there garnered global attention.

Love was one of 15 members of the GB squad from Rio who had been recipients of SportsAid support.

"I was funded in 2015 and a year later I was in the squad for Rio 2016 so it shows what a great impact SportsAid can have. The money helped me move from Scotland to England and allowed me to train full time with the GB squad. I don’t know where I’d be without it."

There was also the announcement that wheelchair basketball will feature for the first time at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

 Now, from royals to rap…

Putting the hip hop in hoops

It was just about two years ago when I wrote about The Rebound, a wonderful documentary film focusing on the players and improbable championship run of the Miami Heat Wheels basketball team in 2015.  

One of the featured athletes was Jeremie "Phenom" Thomas, whose hip hop skills are equaled only by his tenacity and determination on the court - somewhere I have a photo of him diving off the end of the court, in mid-air, his chair still strapped to him, trying to save a loose ball.

Now those worlds come together in the music below and the video, most appropriately produced by Shaina Allen and Mike Esposito who gave us the documentary.

 "Just because I'm rolling, don't tell me what I can't do" Jeremie "Phenom" Thomas

 We all have things we can't do. It's what we can that matters. Phenom can bring the Heat and the beat.

Matt moves mainstream

Anyone who knows wheelchair ball knows that Matt Scott has mad skills. Now you can add tourism tout to his resume. The USA star is now in Germany playing for RSB Thuringia Bulls after his own basketball tourism has given him temporary residence in Turkey and Italy but his cheese-head roots from his college days at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater have made him one of the faces of Travel Wisconsin's current campaign.

Scott is also now part of what might be wheelchair basketball's first podcast. Episode one of Shots features Scott with fellow American and Thuringia teammate Jake Williams and GB's Gaz Choudhry (BSR Amiab Albacete in Spain) talking about the game in Europe. If you want an international baller's POV, or just want to watch them busting each other's chops, this is the place to be.

If it's Easter, this must be Belgium.

Now in its 13^th year, Parantee-Psylos, the Flemish Federation of Disability Sports, is hosting several of the world's top national teams for the annual Easter tournament this weekend.

Livestats link here.

Check this YouTube link for live streaming.

The madness of March

In the U.S., the NWBA's women's and intercollegiate division championships have been played.

The WASA Bucks Women won the 2018 NWBA Women’s National Championship with a thrilling overtime victory over the PossAbilities Shield Maidens (a great name for the next Marvel action movie by the way), 56-55. The Bucks were anchored by two U.S. Paralympic gold medalists, Becca "The baby-faced assassin" Murray and Natalie Schneider. 

Full tournament details here.   

The madness of March as the NCAA has prosperously titled the month saw the University of Texas-Arlington women capture a second championship in the past three years behind the strength of Paralympic veterans Rose Hollermann and Abigail Dunkin who will also be the senior citizens of the USA team chasing dreams in Hamburg this summer. The Lady Movin' Mavs topped the University of Alabama 66-55 in the final.

"It's always fun beating Bama, they're really a phenomenal team, they’re really strong," Dunkin told the UTA paper, The Shorthorn about the rivals who took the title last season. "I know they're gonna come back for revenge next year. I'm really looking forward to playing them again."

The Tide didn't go home without any joy. Alabama's men won their second national championship with a 69-65 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. 

Hollermann and UWW's Dylan Fischbach were named the Intercollegiate division players of the year.

More detail here. 

The full-on NWBA madness actually runs April 12-15 in Louisville, KY with championships to be decided in three adult and two junior divisions.

It's a pool party

The IWBF World Championship pools and schedule are now public.

The women of Argentina and China will tip off the first game of the 2018 IWBF World Championships on the morning of Thursday, August 16 before the host German men and women play later that evening.

The current Paralympic champions from Rio, USA women will open against France that afternoon while the USA men won't start until day three against Poland.

The reigning world champions from 2014 begin their title defense the next day. Australia's men open against Argentina while Canada's women open against Great Britain.

2018 IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championship Pools

Men

Group A: Canada, Germany, Iran, Morocco

Group B: Great Britain, Poland, South Korea, USA

Group C: Brazil, Italy, Japan, Turkey

Group D: Argentina, Australia, Spain, The Netherlands

Women

Group A: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Great Britain, Spain, The Netherlands

Group B: Algeria, Argentina, China, France, Germany, USA

The full schedule can be found here. 

And we're out...

I'll close with this quote from an American public television special I recently saw about Fred Rogers, the late star of the children's show Mister Rogers Neighborhood.

It's tough to make bravery both ordinary and special at the same time and I think that's what Fred did for Jeff.Nicholas Ma

The son of cellist Yoyo Ma, who produced the PBS documentary, was referring to Roger's interaction in 1980 with Jeffrey Erlanger, then a 10 year old quadriplegic in his electric powered wheelchair.

I believe that Ma's words encapsulate the essence of wheelchair basketball and adaptive sport in that it exists to be both ordinary and special at the same time.

It isn't special because those with a disability are doing it, but it is extraordinary in how some do it so well… just like everything else.

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.

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