IT started with an idea from an Altona woman and a basketball coach who spotted a young boy sidelined on the edge of a court.
Altona’s Ann Marie Harris, who has a visual impairment, decided to start a basketball team for children with an intellectual disability “because when I was growing up, there was nothing like that for kids in the west”.
From 10am-noon on April 20, Westgate Basketball Association will launch the Hoops Without Boundaries program in the basketball stadium at West Footscray’s Whitten Oval.
Association president Steve Hansby said the “come and try” day sprang from his discussions with Ms Harris, who is a committee member, and from seeing the reaction to basketball by a young boy named Tom.
Maidstone’s Tom Greeley, 9, is among the first to sign up for the program.
His mum, Lucy Greeley, said her son, who has autism, fell in love with the sport the first time he saw it.
“My daughter plays and dad coaches and it happened that one day I couldn’t look after Tom, so dad took Tom to watch the basketball and that’s where Steve Hansby saw him,” Ms Greeley said.
“Tom wanted to join in . . . he just wanted to run around on the court, but he couldn’t because it was a structured game. That’s where Steve saw a gap for kids like my son.”
Ms Greeley said there would be adjustable rings for smaller kids and a smaller ball. “With autistic kids, you have to try things 20, 30 times. It takes some time for them to say, it’s OK.”
Hansby said that after the Saturday launch, the program would run for several weeks on a Sunday morning, teaching children basic skills.
“It’s a bit of an unknown as to how it will develop,” he said. “We obviously would love it to grow into a proper game situation with teams and the like so that a little boy watching his sister play could feel more a part of the mainstream community.’
More details: Ann Marie Harris, 0411 957 056
