It’s March, which means college basketball tournaments are omnipresent in the headlines across the United States.
However, for those of us tracking wheelchair basketball, our attention might also be on the March 25–29 National Wheelchair Basketball Association Men’s and Women’s Intercollegiate Division National Championships at the University of Illinois.
Today, wheelchair basketball is the most popular wheelchair sport in the world, yet there was a time when it was simply a means of recreation for a few veterans who had recently become paralyzed during World War II. Back then, the young men seeking exercise and camaraderie would scrimmage in the confines of multipurpose rooms at veterans’ hospitals.
However, in 1946, at the Birmingham Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital located in Van Nuys, Calif., this pastime became an organized sport and the impetus to a social movement that continues to impact all of us today.
This ragtag group of patients called themselves the Flying Wheels, and to demonstrate their competency, they challenged the hospital staff to a game. When it ended in a lopsided victory for the patients, the hospital’s newsletter reported that the competition was “an action-packed, fast-moving and exciting contest.”
Soon after, in 1947, the Flying Wheels chartered a bus to the Corona Naval Station, where they competed in the first game between two wheelchair basketball teams. The news spread quickly, and patients at other VA hospitals around the country began forming teams, such as the Rolling Devils and the Gizz Kids (apparently “Condom Catheter Kids” was already taken or deemed inappropriate).
As these local teams challenged collegiate and professional basketball teams, they garnered the attention of sports writers throughout the country. Matter of fact, in 1948, a paralyzed veteran named Jack Gerhardt appeared on the cover of Newsweek with the caption below his photo reading, “Paraplegics: The Conquest of Unconquerable Odds.”
While the sport of wheelchair basketball became popular with the media, the players never squandered the opportunity to educate the public about the challenges they faced as the first generation of paralyzed veterans. By doing so, these athletes became advocates.
The Flying Wheels certainly did their part to fight for disability rights. With the support of sports writers representing newspapers across the country, the Flying Wheels chartered an airplane and embarked on a barnstorming tour that included eight major cities. They played in arenas as big as Madison Square Garden in New York before huge crowds.
Following a game in the VA hospital in Richmond, Va., the Flying Wheels went to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. I’m not sure how they navigated all those stairs, but they managed to find their way into the offices of their elected representatives and lobbied for legislation to help paralyzed veterans purchase and modify their homes to accommodate their wheelchairs. The Flying Wheels were successful, and the legislation establishing the Specially Adapted Housing grant program became law June 19, 1948. However, their work wasn’t done.
In the years to come, these veterans continued to play key roles in the passage of legislation to ensure equal access to public spaces and employment opportunities. Their work was realized years later with the passage of landmark disability rights laws such as the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
The players’ impact on public perception as athletes and as advocates is difficult to quantify, but I know the quality of life I enjoy today is a direct result of their work. By demonstrating their resilience and ability via their athleticism and by engaging and contributing to society despite their disabilities, these veterans helped shift people’s attitudes toward disability. In other words, their efforts put us on a trajectory that moved us away from pity and toward empowerment.
As always, let me know your thoughts at al@pvamag.com.