Sport on wheels

The improvement of physical and mental health is one of the greatest benefits for those who practise sport regularly. To this end, the Universitat Politècnica de València provides the university community with state-of-the-art sport facilities. And they are going even further, betting increasingly on inclusive sport.

The members of these teams have shown us that it is possible to play basketball on skates or to score goals in football on two wheels. More than a hundred people with physical or intellectual disabilities currently comprise UPV's inclusive sport teams, coordinated by the university's Sport Area.

As the director of the area, César Iribarren, explains, "This project was born because we understand that the university receives a lot from society, and in some way, we also have to show solidarity with the society that supports us so much".

UPV currently offers up to seven disciplines of wheelchair sport: cycling, rugby, Valencian pilota, tennis, paddle tennis, football, basketball, and basketball for intellectual disabilities. These activities are carried out thanks to contracted staff and volunteers. Without them, these projects would not be possible.

Adapted sport is accessible to the university community and also to the entire disabled community of Valencia and the surrounding areas since, as the director of the area explains, "the facilities offered by the City Council of Valencia itself are crowded", so the key lies in taking advantage of the off-peak hours of the UPV facilities to offer them, free of charge to the different adapted sport groups.

The teams

The Valencian pilota team, comprised of 11 people, trains weekly in the trinquete and competes with Basque and French clubs. The pavilion hosts training sessions for wheelchair basketball, intellectual disability basketball, and A-Ball, an adaptation of wheelchair football.

The wheelchair basketball team is made up of 27 people and 2 volunteers who currently compete in the third national category against teams such as Básquet Girona, FC Barcelona, Granada, or Melilla.

For its part, the basketball team for people with intellectual disabilities has around thirty members, many from the Fundació Espurna de Gandia. The first objective of this project is not to compete in the FEDI CV competitions, although it has been planned for the medium term. At the moment, this model of inclusion is leading them to organise next December an inclusive tournament where people with and without intellectual disabilities participate together.

The athletics track hosts cycling training sessions, which do not compete officially but organise federated races with the club with Unlimited Wheels. During the outdoor training sessions, the team members have chairs adapted to their circumstances, allowing them to enjoy the sport with their teammates.

Beyond the UPV facilities, the rugby team also trains weekly, in this case, at the Benicalap Sport Center. This team, made up of 12 people, now competes in the national league.

In addition, this year also saw the creation of the paddle tennis team, which started with eight players, and the wheelchair tennis team.

Motivating your athletes

Aside from practising a sport, UPV's inclusive sport training is a source of motivation for its users and, as one of its members, the athlete Carlos Sanchis, explains, "For me, it is an important sacrifice. It gives you a lot more skills in your daily life; you build companionship, play, travel... you get out of your usual environment, which means a better quality of life".

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