By: Shelby Berkemeier
Western athletes gave up the use of their legs to face the Kansas City Predators, a wheelchair basketball team, to raise money for Midwest Adaptive Sports (MAS).
MAS is a non-profit organization that uses competitive sports to help engage people with physical disabilities.
Western student Kevin Caldwell joined the MAS Predators basketball team in 2016. For his recreational sports class, they were tasked with raising money for a sport-related program — thus Griffs on Wheels was born.
Griffs on Wheels was a crowd-pleasing basketball game between the Predators and a mixed bag of Western athletes who volunteered to play in wheelchairs.
The wheelchairs seemed to pose quite a challenge for the Griffon athletes. Not only were their mobility and range of motion limited, but their shot was also falling short.
Western men’s basketball player Tyree Martin was shocked to learn wheelchair basketball had different rules.
“We didn’t know you could hit people,” Martin said. “We thought you just rolled around.”
Martin got a taste of the everyday struggles that paraplegic athletes face and came to appreciate the sport even more.
“Getting up and down with those guys — with people less fortunate — than us was the best part of it,” Martin said.
Though the Griffon players may have felt outmatched, their efforts didn’t go unnoticed — at least not by Caldwell.
“If they knew how to work the wheelchairs, it would be a dangerous game,” Caldwell said.
Caldwell’s fundraiser came together and was even more successful than they’d hoped.
“What I enjoyed most was getting the kids involved,” Caldwell said. “I don’t care if I ever score another point again, as long as I can be a part of making them happy.”
Griffs on Wheels was able to raise over $1,200 for MAS with the help of the Predators, Western athletes and the supportive crowd.