INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE /APARIL 30, 1991

 

 

Calculating a Winner

Bet. Frick will be playing with
numbers May 13-16. That's
when the national women’s wheel-
chair coach must select the team
for the Gold Cup World Cham-
pionship in England in July.

Frick’s first number is three, as
in the three-step system he hopes
will allow the team to improve on
last year’s bronze at the world
championships. The upcoming
tournament will be the major tune-
up for the 1992 Paralympics in Bar-
celona, and training camps for
women and men are being co-
hosted at Douglas College and U.B.C.

“The first step is to make sure
they know the basics, the next is
that they develop the attitude
which it takes to win international-
ly,” said Frick, a Physical Educa-
tion Instructor at Douglas College
who earned the bronze in his
rookie year. “I’m pleased to say
we're ready for stage three now.
Once you have the discipline and
commitment, the next step is being
able to recognize what top interna-
tional teams do, and then react to it.”

Reacting in wheelchair basket-
ball largely centers on coping with
two factors. One is the extensive
use of screens (blocking people
out). With a tactic called pick and
roll, offensive players square off
against defenders, denying them
access to the inside of the court. At-
tackers then suddenly pivot their
chairs, a move which hopefully
provides an uncontested passage
to the basket. Players at the camp
will hone the skill in scrimmages
against teams of able-bodied
players.

The second factor is matching
up, which brings Frick to another
number: 13.5. In wheelchair basket-
ball every athlete is assessed a
class, from one to four, based on
their disability and subsequent
mobility. A player with paralysis
from the chest down might be a 1
or 1.5, a player with full hip move-
ment would be a four (a 4.5 for
able-bodied players is also in the
works). The cumulative points for

 

the five
players on the
floor cannot
exceed 13.5.
The system is
wonderful for
athletes, allow-
ing people
with various
levels of dis-
abilities to in-
teract, but it
can be a little
tough on
coaches.

“You have
to bea math
genius to fig-
ure it out,” la-
mented Frick.
“You have to
be aware of it
when picking
players fora
team. It also
really effects
game strategy.

 

 

 

 

A large part of

wheelchair Canadian Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Coach
een ” Tim Frick prepares for national training camps at
FYING tO cre-

yea ae Douglas College May 13 - 16.

matches. If

you replace a ‘one’ and ‘four’ with
a ‘two’ and ‘three’, you will gain
overall speed but lose the height
advantage from a mobile player
who can stretch.”

So much for math. Other
obstacles facing Canadian women
at the world tournament involve
geography and finance. Diane
Rakiecki, a class two with the 1990
Canadian team who will be trying
to earn back her spot, said a major
problem for players is lack of play-
ing together as a team before duell-
ing with powers such as Germany
(silver in 1990) and the U.S. (gold).

“Last year at the worlds we
didn’t start to play as a team until
the end of the tournament. We real-
ly need two or three camps
together, says Rakiecki.”

Until more funding is forthcom-
ing the only partial solution to the

problem comes from high levels of
competition generated within the
two-year-old Women’s Conference
of the Canadian Basketball
League. “In the last two years the
improvement in the level of play
has been incredible,” offers Frick.

And all that improvement will
bring him to the ultimate numbers
game facing any coach at any
camp: 15 proven players vying for
10 openings.

“It’s tough because the players
are all so close in terms of ability
and in their potential contribution
to the team. Personally it’s dif-
ficult because you like all the
players,” said Frick, who culled
the short list from 50-60 top
prospects from across Canada.
“Making the decisions will be ex-
cruciatingly painful.” @

 

8)