Wispeco, Etosha Transport sponsor wheelchair basketball team

Wispeco and Etosha Transport have donated N$10 200 in support of the Wheel-Ability basketball players, which allowed the team to take part in the Oshana Heroes annual regional championships. The event took place in the Oshana Region on September 14 and the sponsorship came as a welcome boost for the Wheel-Ability basketball team, which was established to develop people with disabilities through wheelchair basketball. The sponsorship was predominantly used toward the transportation of the team to and from Oshakati. “Our sport club was established to encourage the players to live active healthy lifestyles,” said Mike Hamukwaya, the team's coach. “At Wheel-Ability basketball team we embrace the motto 'Disability is not Inability', thus striving to inspire people with disabilities to thrive through wheelchair sports,” he added. Hamukwaya said he was happy with the team's performance during the event, which was held in Oshakati. “Even though we are a young team, they did extremely well by putting up a great battle in competitive wheelchair basketball [as they played] against a more experience Oshana Heroes team. We lost by 22 baskets for Oshana and 4 baskets for Wheel-Ability [but] we also managed to interact with other athletes with disabilities who are more experienced,” Hamukwaya added. Wheelchair basketball was introduced in Namibia few years ago and has already seen a huge interest developing in the code. As such those that are busy administrating the code are hoping that more companies would come on board to further publicise the sport. For any queries or additional information those interested in supporting the cause can contact Roodly Gowaseb on 081 616 3379. WINDHOEK-SPORT REPORTER