Oyo wheelchair basketballers lament shortage of wheelchairs for training

The Oyo State Wheelchair Basketball Association on Sunday lamented the shortage of wheelchairs for its players’ training.

The head coach, Taiye Sobogun, told the news men in Ibadan that his 15 players only have two wheelchairs for their training.

“The major challenges we’re facing are lack of wheelchairs and sponsorship for hosting competitions.

“We don’t have wheelchairs in the state for our players. I got the two wheelchairs we are currently managing from the Nigeria Wheelchair Basketball Federation.

“They are not for the state,” he said.

Sobogun says the federation always provides wheelchairs for participants whenever there are tournaments.

“When the competition ends, the wheelchairs are taken back from them.

“Even the federation’s wheelchairs are not enough, but the saving grace is that all games are not played simultaneously,” he said.

He added that all states were expected to have wheelchairs for their players.

“12 players make a team, so each state shouldn’t have less than 12 wheelchairs for its basketballers.

“Well, the money to procure a wheelchair is very expensive, so, maybe that’s why states don’t have enough.

“The least wheelchair costs 1,500 dollars and the only state I know that has some wheelchairs is Lagos,” he said.

The state head coach said the majority of his players, therefore, train in Lagos where they have more access to wheelchairs.