Junior Wheelchair Sports

UPDATE:  The Tulsa Jammers will be hosting a JWCS Tournament at The Center on December 11 – 12, 2010. Mark your calendars to join the fun and the action!

Complete 2010-11 Jammer Schedule below:

The Center primarily serves adults 18 and older, but we also provide the only competitive Junior Wheelchair Sports Program (JWCS) for children and teens with mobility impairments in eastern Oklahoma. Our goal is to encourage these youth athletes to make a commitment to an active lifestyle that will continue into adulthood.

They learn the skills associated with competitive team sports. A fitness regimen is developed for the participants by a fitness specialist at The Center. And, a coach with training and experience in adaptive sports oversees all weekly practices, drills and competitions throughout the year. Currently, the wheelchair sporting events include basketball, tennis, and track and field. We hope to add soccer to our program in the near future. Because the JWCS program is unique, it attracts young athletes in wheelchairs across Green Country.

Our team competes in numerous local, regional and national tournaments every year. The basketball program is a member of Wheelchair Sports USA, the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Youth Division’s Southwest Conference, which also includes teams from Hot Springs, AR, St. Louis, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. Bradley Forbes, our Junior Wheelchair Sports Coordinator has the honor of the being the Commissioner for the Southwest Conference. 

Our Junior Wheelchair Sports program also provides an environment for opening doors to scholarships now available for athletes with disabilities at the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, University of Texas, University of Illinois, University of Wisconsin, University of Missouri, Southwest Minnesota State University, University of Arizona, and Edinboro University.

Additionally, these young athletes compete in sporting events at the Endeavor Games in Edmond, OK. This is a qualifying tournament for the disabled division of the Olympics.

What is the impact the Junior Wheelchair Sports program has on the lives of these youth athletes? It allows them to be an active part of the community. They engage in social, cultural and recreational events. Many of these youth feel isolated because of their disabilities, but we provide activities in which they can broaden comfort zones and participate in the things you and I take for granted. And because of an active lifestyle, secondary health-care problems are prevented.

The JWCS year-round basketball program is also currently recruiting players with mobility impairments, ages 7-19, for the current season. For more information on the program or to learn how you can help, contact Bradley Forbes, Junior Wheelchair Sports Coordinator, at 918-584-8607.