Small Wisconsin university enjoys reputation as ‘Duke Of Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball’
Released: March 31, 2004
While the nation gears up for NCAA Final Four weekend, a unique group of athletes at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is savoring its second national title in intercollegiate wheelchair basketball.
The successes of this team, comprised of student athletes from across the nation, might provide a compelling human interest story angle during this time of intense interest in basketball.
UW-Whitewater is a 10,000-student public institution that has a national reputation for disability access and is at the very top when it comes to its wheelchair basketball program. The Warhawks are currently the two-time defending National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball Association national champions. The Warhawks defeated the University of Texas-Arlington in both 2003 and 2004, the latest a 69-62 victory on March 13 in Marshall, Minnesota.
Ten of the 13 players on this year’s roster are from out of state. The entire roster is likely to be made up of players from out-of-state in the fall of 2004.
Part of the reason for Whitewater’s success can be traced to the strong tradition of Warhawk Wheelchair basketball over the years. Another large reason for success is the disability access mission of the campus, which was rated in the top ten in disability services in 1998 by U.S. News and World Report.
With an enrollment of 429 students with disabilities, the figure represents approximately 4 percent of UW-Whitewater’s total student body. With 80 students, UW-Whitewater has the highest number of wheelchair users among state campuses.
UW-Whitewater’s national titles at the intercollegiate level aren’t diluted by divisional play like in the NCAA. All collegiate level teams play at one level, be it the University of Illinois or UW-Whitewater.
While CBS uses the slogan the Road To The Final Four when promoting the NCAA Men’s National Tournament on it’s network, wheelchair basketball teams from around the country play in the shadow of their able-bodied classmates. But Chynoweth notes the competition is just as fierce ú and the trophy the same as the one handed out to the NCAA men’s and women’s national champion early in April.
For more about this program, please contact Chynoweth at (262) 472-1145. Chynoweth can make team members available for interview and also provide footage from the national title game.
- Tom Pattison ,pattisot@uww.edu
