East Rutherford, NJ—The New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association will host a wheelchair basketball clinic for children with disabilities at their practice facility in East Rutherford, NJ, on Monday, August 20, 2007, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. The clinic will be conducted by members of United Spinal Association’s wheelchair basketball team, the United Spinal Nets.
Instruction will focus on wheelchair movement, dribbling, passing, and shooting. Boys and girls with mobility impairments, and other disabilities that require a wheelchair, ages 18 and under, are encouraged to participate.
The New Jersey Nets have sponsored United Spinal’s wheelchair basketball team since 1999. The team competes in the Eastern Wheelchair Basketball Conference and in a variety of tournaments across the country and holds numerous wheelchair basketball clinics for kids and adults throughout the year.
United Spinal Association’s Director of Sports & Recreation, Bill Hannigan, noted, “We’re delighted that the New Jersey Nets are making their practice facility available for our kids’ clinic and we’re proud to be affiliated with one of the NBA’s premier clubs. We warmly welcome all kids with disabilities to come out on August 20th and learn the basics of this exciting adaptive sport.”
Considered the oldest competitive wheelchair team sport, wheelchair basketball continues to be one of the most popular. The National Wheelchair Basketball Association oversees more than 175 competitive teams in over 20 conferences nationwide. Interested children, or their parents or guardians, must register by contacting John Hamre via e-mail at jthamre@gmail.com or by phone at 917-519-2622.
United Spinal Association is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization formed in 1946 to provide expertise, create access to resources and strengthen hope, thereby enabling people with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D) to fulfill their potential as active members of their communities. United Spinal advocated for and drafted significant portions of landmark federal legislation including the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing Amendments Act, and we continue to provide critical health care and benefits counseling to military veterans from all wars with spinal cord injuries through our Vets First program. Membership is free and open to individuals with disabilities of the spinal cord of all ages. For more information, please visit www.unitedspinal.org or call 800-404-2898.
