EWU wheelchair basketball team hopes to share passion for sport at Hoopfest

As Spokane gears up for the return of Hoopfest, one local team hopes to demonstrate that a passion for basketball, competition and an active lifestyle can be celebrated in more ways than one.

The team’s head coach, David Evjen, says he hopes to spread awareness of Eastern Washington University’s (EWU) wheelchair basketball program with a hands-on experience at the EWU Adaptive Athletics Exhibition on Friday, June 24, in Riverfront Park.

“We’ll put people in wheelchairs who have probably never been in wheelchairs,” Evjen says.

Evjen hopes to show that wheelchair basketball can be played by anyone — it’s just another take on a global game.

“In Canada, they have a saying: ‘If you can sit, you can play,’ ” he says. “Our sport is very inviting, and we try to be as inclusive as possible. It was developed for people with disabilities first, but as it has grown, we’ve tried to engage more people in the sport. We can have able-bodied players on our team. So, if someone wants to try out the sport, they can.”

Evjen himself had never played wheelchair basketball when approached by his school’s team at Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU).

“I grew up playing able-bodied sports my whole life,” he says. “Then, senior year of high school during track, I herniated a disk in my lower back.”

Evjen’s doctors prescribed physical therapy, but the nerve damage was already permanent in one leg. He was approached by the SMSU team after they recognized the way he walked around campus.

“They said I could qualify based on my injury,” he says.

Despite a rough first season, Evjen stuck with it, playing five years in college and two years for the Colombian men’s national team.

How does wheelchair basketball work?

EWU team captain and sophomore Bob Hunt, who has been in a wheelchair his entire life, is excited to watch people realize just how challenging the sport can be.

“My favorite thing is to watch people jump in and try this out,” Hunt says. “They think it’s going to be easy, just sit down and shoot. But we’re not just here for fun. After trying it out, they have to look at you as an athlete.”

Hunt explains that wheelchair basketball is similar to NCAA basketball: five players on the court, 10-foot hoops, three seconds in the key, five fouls and so on. The biggest differences are the player classification structure and dribbling, which requires no more than two pushes before a dribble, or it’s considered traveling.

Evjen explains that on an NCAA able-bodied team, players have positions such as point guard and center, but in wheelchair basketball, every athlete is assigned a point value. Points start at 1.0 and go up in 0.5 increments to a maximum of 4.5, depending on the player’s level of core function.

“I have all of my lower extremities and almost full core strength and full range of motion, but I have nerve damage in one leg, so I’m assigned 4.5,” Evjen explains. “Hunt, who is in a wheelchair every day, has the least amount of core function and is assigned a 1.0.”

The maximum points allowed on the court at any time is 14, so an athlete’s classification dictates their role and who can substitute for whom. But in all other ways, Hunt says, the game and student-athlete experience are the same.

“I’ve always been disabled, so I always look at it the same,” he says. “It’s the same thing as any other student athlete. Wake up, work out, class, practice, homework, practice again.”

Hunt previously attended college in Illinois but left for medical reasons. He had been coaching prep wheelchair basketball at Parasport Spokane and playing on and off for their club team before enrolling at EWU in 2019 to finish school and join the team.

Evjen says the EWU team has provided more options for both high school seniors looking for their next move and nontraditional students who want to return to school and play. It also provides an option for athletes who’d prefer to stay closer to home.

The EWU Adaptive Athletics program hosts the only collegiate wheelchair basketball team in Washington state. In total, there are only 15 collegiate teams in the nation, including men’s, women’s and co-ed like EWU. The team has only played one full season due to COVID-19 but will start their next in September.

Hoopfest 2022: EWU Adaptive Athletics Exhibition

Exhibition participants will watch a team demonstration, including skills such as pushing up when knocked over and being strapped into the wheelchair. They will then go through drills themselves such as pushing, dribbling, passing and shooting against a defender, and then end with a 5-on-5 scrimmage.

Hoopfest is a great way to showcase that health and a dedication to physical well-being can come at all ages, sizes and abilities, says Alex Jackson, senior vice president/chief executive for MultiCare Inland Northwest. MultiCare is sponsoring the exhibition event and Jackson and Greg Repetti, hospital president for MultiCare Inland Northwest, will participate in the exhibition to get a taste for themselves.

“I’m excited to give it a shot,” Jackson says. “We’re all big fans of basketball in my family and have participated in Hoopfest for a number of years, so I’m looking forward to sharing in that passion with other athletes and enjoying this sport in a new way.”

While pre-registration has closed, Evjen hopes anyone walking around downtown the evening before Hoopfest will stop by the exhibition to watch or even get into a chair themselves.

“Don’t be scared to hop in and see what it’s like,” he says.