xAble.com NWWBT Event Page

By Jessica Navarro

Champaign, IL - Mar 1, 2008 - Today, 12 all-female teams from around the U.S. completed the ultimate battle of the season - the National Women's Wheelchair Basketball Championship. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign hosted this year's Championship and its Fighting Illini showed its home crowd what winning is all about with a repeat first place performance! Tournament Organizer and Team Captain Sarah Castle explains, "Our team didn't lose a lot of players in the last year, but what makes us so strong is the team chemistry." She continues, "3 of the starting 5 have played together for the last four years, and all 5 of us have [been together] for three years." The chemistry paid off as the team marched its way to victory, dominating 4-0 in the tournament.

A testament to teamwork, leadership, and skill, the Fighting Illini entered this tournament in first place, but there were many great teams among this field this year. Before the tournament, both Sarah and her coach, Patty Cisneros, agreed that the biggest competitors to look out for were University of Alabama, University of Arizona, and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC). "We beat University of Alabama twice by 15 [points this season], and they beat us once by 15 points [prior to the Championship]," Sarah confides. Clearly, they are a viable challenger for the championship. She and Patty were right in their predictions, as University of Alabama worked its way to the Championship Game and lost by only one point (43-44) to the University of Illinois. The University of Arizona came in third place and the honor or fourth place went to the Dallas Lady Mavericks.

So what is wheelchair basketball? It's a game of five on five with the same shot clock (35 seconds) as able-bodied players use, same court, and same basket. Unlike the able-bodied game, there's no double-dribble rule and traveling is defined by the number of pushes or touches, not the movement of your feet. The Women are also governed by a classification system, which limits the number of total points, or level of combined ability, on the court at one time. Each player has a classification ranging from 1-3 with 3 representing the greatest ability. In the U.S. women's game, the maximum number of points at one time is 12, although this changes to 14 at the International level of play.

Sarah is a high 2 (2.5 Internationally) with experience on the U.S. National Team and high hopes to qualify again for the Beijing Paralympics at the U.S. team tryouts starting April 9th. With a dominant victory this weekend among a field of 12 incredible teams, Sarah is focused for her next challenge, a chance at returning to the international level of competition. For complete tournament results from this weekend, including the standings of all 12 teams, visit the xAble.com NWWBT Event Page!