Team Beds did well in their first ever wheelchair basketball championship

Tue 16 May, 2017

University of Bedfordshire placed 5th in the Plate (13th overall) which is a reasonable place for their first ever competition and provides a great target to smash next year.

The University’s wheelchair basketball team, made up of 9 able bodied and disabled students, headed to the National Basketball Performance Centre in Manchester for the 2017 British Wheelchair Basketball University Championships.

The Bedfordshire side headed to Manchester on Friday night (3 March) in preparation for an early start the next morning.

The team have had very little time together and little experience of the sport but went into their first ever competitive game with high spirits. On the first day they played 2015 winners Nottingham Trent (NTU) and Bath who ended up finishing in 4^th place. Both were reasonable scores from our rookie team playing against those with much more experience. The huge 5 hour gap in between the two matches enabled the team to do a bit of team building and sight-seeing around Manchester!

There were some fantastic performances from certain individuals, including three 3-pointers from Captain Dom.

Although UoB placed 3^rd in their pool, it worked in their advantage, offering them the opportunity to compete for the Plate on day 2, as opposed to the Trophy that the top 8 teams compete for.

On Sunday, the team’s first confirmed fixtures were against Sheffield Hallum (SHU) and then Cambridge Rhinos. The first game against SHU was a close one, finishing with a 15-12 loss. It was definitely a winnable game, made even more frustrating that SHU went on to win the Plate. Something that was just out of Bedfordshire’s grasp!

The Cambridge Rhinos game was another one that should’ve been won by Bedfordshire due to them taking a fantastic lead but unfortunately heads dropped and silly mistakes were made resulting in an unfortunate loss.

Bedfordshire’s final game of the tournament against Stirling was the decider of 13^th and 14^th place. Bedfordshire got off to a slow start, losing their lead at one point, but started picking up the pace and finished with a superb 10-18 victory. For the second half of the game, Bedfordshire dominated and Stirling were unable to score any more points.

University of Bedfordshire placed 5^th in the Plate (13^th overall) which is a reasonable place for their first ever competition and provides a great target to smash next year.

Although we would’ve hoped for better results, I’m very proud of the team and the effort they put into every game. We had a fantastic weekend which has been a new and rewarding opportunity for every single person involved. What we have achieved in this 2016/17 academic year will provide an amazing platform for the team to grow and improve on for next year. I hope to work closely with different areas of the University, engaging with even more disabled students and encouraging able bodied students to also give it a go.

A new Facebook and Twitter account has been created so that we can give the team the coverage it deserves.

I’m really excited for what the future holds. We will be focusing on player recruitment, regular friendlies and doing even better at the University Championships in 2018.