Dutch wheelchair basketball star visits schools in Rio de Janeiro
Named as the most valuable player at last year's women's wheelchair world championship, Inge Huitzing has been giving lessons in three GEOs
Inge Huitzing explains wheelchair basketball at the GEO Félix Mieli Venerando (André Redlich/Comitê Rio 2016)
One of the stars of The Netherlands women’s wheelchair basketball team, Inge Huitzing, is in Rio de Janeiro this week to promote the sport at some of the city’s Olympic Experimental Gymnasiums.
Known by their Portuguese acronym GEO, these full-time schools, which offer a mix of sporting and academic activities, are a key part of Rio’s Olympic legacy.
Huitzing’s visit is the fifth by the Netherlands Olympic Committee and is part of an exchange programme between the organisation and Rio’s GEOs.
A two-time Paralympian – who took part in both Beijing 2008 and London 2012, where she won a bronze medal – Huitzing is excited to be in Rio. “I’m loving it,” she said. “It’s great to feel the joy of these children and to pass on the message of teamwork and triumph over adversity.”
Huitzing is not disabled herself, but has reduced mobility. A former able-bodied player, she once played for The Netherlands basketball squad, but repeated knee injuries eventually led to her taking up the wheelchair version of the sport. Inge can stand unaided, but not for more than 15 minutes at a time, and avoids walking long distances. In her new discipline, Inge is one of the world’s most formidable players. In the last women’s wheelchair basketball world championships she was named most valuable player of the tournament.
“It took a while for me to adapt to the chair, but today it feels normal. It’s the same reaction that I see in our students; they find it weird at first, but afterwards it becomes fun,” Huitzing said. On a visit to the Félix Mieli Venerando GEO in the central Rio neighbourhood of Caju, Inge helped supervise the student’s basketball practice and spoke to the school’s directors about the challenges of teaching physical education.
Huitzing’s visit follows that of Marlou van Rhijn, the Dutch Paralympic 200m gold medallist, in November 2014. As well as the athletes themselves, the Netherlands Olympic Committee also sends academics to look at the impact of the Games. The University of Utrecht has sent one of its professors and two students to accompany Huitzing in order to study the importance of sport as a factor in social transformation.
“It might seem surprising, but I think that the pupils here are more disciplined than those of the same age in Holland,” Frank van Eekeren, an assistant professor of the Utrecht University School of Governance said.
Pointing to the court where a group of 20 students were being put through their paces by Irene Slooff, the coach of the Netherlands women’s wheelchair basketball team, van Eekeren said, “The kids take the athlete’s advice more seriously and really apply themselves to the exercises. As a result, the athletes become even more involved in the process and manage to enjoy themselves in a situation which, at first, could seem difficult, because of the language barrier.”
“I love basketball, but I have never seen anyone play in a wheelchair,” Kayalane Vitória, a 12-year old student, said. “It’s very different, but it’s really cool. Now I want to watch the Paralympic Games.”
Kayalane has sporting ambitions of her own. “I took part in the last state Olympic wrestling competition (in the juvenile, 59kg to 63kg category) last year and I came in second,” she said. “Now I am training to win!”
