The game on the court beside Memorial Gym is basketball, but it looks a lot like bumper cars as University of Virginia students, staff and faculty battle each other for the ball while rolling up the court in specially designed wheelchairs.
Welcome to Wednesday afternoon’s “Roll With Jim,” an event sponsored by UVA’s School of Education and Human Development’s Department of Kinesiology. The adaptive sports field day offered the University community a chance to try wheelchair sports firsthand, alongside UVA President Jim Ryan.
Besides basketball, rugby, pickleball, tennis and soccer, the event featured T-shirts and pizza for participants – and Trevon Jenifer, a three-time Paralympic gold medalist in wheelchair basketball.
Paralympian gold medalist Trevon Jenifer, left, celebrates with a high-five during a game of wheelchair basketball at Wednesday’s “Roll With Jim” event. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
“I believe in the power of sport to showcase the normalcy of disability and the fact that para-sports are true sports and just as much fun,” said Abby Fines, the assistant professor of kinesiology who helped organize the event.
“People with disabilities can’t always participate in events like ‘Run With Jim,’ and we wanted to provide an opportunity so everyone could participate,” Fines said. “These sports take just as much skill, and if anything, they sometimes allow people who consider themselves nonathletic to have more fun.”
Many did just that. On the sidelines, third-year students Autumn Bissett and Grace Bradecamp practiced handling both basketball and a wheelchair.
Participants enjoy a chance to compete with UVA President Jim Ryan in wheelchair basketball. Event organizer Abby Fines, an assistant professor of kinesiology, says sports can help "showcase the normalcy of disability." (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
“It’s not something that I’ve ever had the chance to try,” Bradecamp said. “And I’m not really an athletic person in the first place, so I was like, ‘OK, I’ll try it out. If I don’t like it, fine. If I do, that’s cool.”
Even those a bit more athletic enjoyed themselves. UVA wrestling coach Steve Garland did his best to keep up with Jenifer’s remarkable fast break downcourt.
“That was really hard,” Garland said as other players rotated into the game. “My shoulders are killing me. I’m terrible at basketball anyway, but trying to shoot from the wheelchair was borderline impossible for me.”
Garland’s competitive spirit did leave a mark. It was on his right hand where the skin wore off as he pushed his chair up and down the court.
“I didn’t realize you’re not supposed to hold it like I was, so I was slicing my hand when I was pushing,” Garland laughed, watching Jenifer fly by chasing a loose ball. “Man, that guy! That’s an athlete.”
Brian Douglas, a fourth-year kinesiology student, awaits a tennis partner at the “Roll With Jim” event. The field day gave the UVA community a chance to participate in adaptive sports. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
Down at the tennis courts, players were amused at their efforts to move the wheelchair and volley at the same time.
“I played tennis in high school, so it was fun to just try to learn the sport in a new way,” Mehki Rippey, a fourth-year engineering student, said. “You don’t realize how many more mechanics go into it, having to move yourself in the chair while playing the sport.”
“Using the racket was hard enough already,” laughed Zoë Jenkins, a fourth-year student with a double major in education and politics. “I would like to do it again, because I didn’t grow up playing racket sports, and I’m not good at tennis, so using the racket and the wheelchair was already too far.”
The person having the most fun, however, may have been Jenifer. The Paralympic medalist spent most of the event hurtling up and down the court, passing, stealing, cheering and scoring.
“I’m happy to be able to share my knowledge and my skill set out here,” he said as he took a break beside his daughter Saraeya, 9, and son Keiden, almost 6. “We’re human beings, and we’re competitive by nature, and so to see everyone come out here and try to compete is awesome.”
Jenifer said he was glad so many people turned out to try his sport and the others.
