Acosta: “The objective is for children with disabilities to optimize their health”
The wheelchair basketball team is preparing to intervene in the South American, while the Uruguayan League is organized, which would have the participation of three teams in its first tournament.
Marcelo cozza
October 14, 2021
Miguel Acosta, the coach of the wheelchair basketball team and the now only APRI national team -participates in the Argentine League-, by way of introduction tells us that, “It is really a highly expensive sport, so we need the financial support of the entire Uruguayan society so that it is possible to solve it and thus children with different disabilities have the opportunity to practice it with the aim of optimizing their health. That is the end, beyond that it also prepares them to compete, to elevate them to the place of high performance ”.
-What differences exist between the modality of wheelchair basketball with the traditional one?
– “We can report that ninety-seven percent of the rules are the same as conventional basketball. In our modality, double dribbling is not sanctioned, nor walking. If there is a rule, called three impulses, that prevents the player from touching the chair more than twice with the ball in his hands. And finally, the other rule that differs absolutely is that each player, according to the degree of disability, obtains a score in points from one to four and a half. The higher the disability, the lower the score and vice versa. Teams are not allowed to exceed fourteen points on the court. That makes it a much more inclusive sport since players with greater and lesser disabilities are needed together within the playing field. In conventional basketball, the coach chooses the five best players, here five must be selected who do not exceed fourteen points between them. ”
-Do you continue with the preparation of the selection?
– “Today the preselection is made up of eighteen players. We practice in the APRI gym, with our sights set on participating in the South American Championship, which will be held from December 6 to 14, at the CENARD in Buenos Aires. We are grateful for the selfless support of Tenfield and other Uruguayan companies that made it possible for us to acquire the wheelchairs so that the eighteen players can have a chair each to train and play. We continue preparing ourselves and we need the support of our people, that is why we enabled account N ° 115488 in the Abitab network ”.
-Is the modality not practiced in our country?
– “We are in the process of organizing the Uruguayan League of the specialty. Three teams from the capital and the interior would participate in the first edition. The games would be played in the APRI gymnasium, in Atenas de San Carlos and possibly in the Maldonado Campus. The tournament would begin at the end of this month and would run until mid-November. The idea is that next year a team from Argentina will join ”.
-It’s great news …
– “It would be the starting point for the practice of this sport to spread throughout our country. Today with the APRI team, we participate in the Argentine League and we will do it again in February. Last week, we intervened with two representatives in the Argentine national 3 × 3 tournament. And to the pride of the Uruguayan sport, we conquered the first two positions and our defender Luciano Varela was the top scorer and was chosen the best player in the tournament ”.
Wheelchair basketball, an inclusive sport that needs the support of all Uruguayans.