The City of Birmingham is proud to be hosting the wheelchair basketball championships of the world for 2010. As Deputy Lord Mayor I had the privilege of delivering the official welcome at the opening ceremony at the National Indoor Arena.
There was a splendid display by dancers and skaters from in and around Birmingham and a parade of the athletes from the countries taking part. The Deputy lady Mayoress and I stayed on for the first match of the championships which featured the Great Britain women’s team against the Netherlands.
Our photo shows the teams lining up at the start of the match.
This was an exciting game in what is a fast and fluid sport. Although participants usually have a disability you don’t need to be disabled to enjoy playing the game.
The opening game was very, very close with Great Britain taking an early lead and sustaining it until the second half. However, there must have been a particularly effective pep talk by the Netherlands coach as the lead was clawed back and in a nail-biting finish the Netherlands eventually came out the winners by 39 to 38. It couldn’t have been closer.
All praise to the competitors, the organisers, the volunteers and city council officers for making the opening day such a great success for the sport and for the city.
There was a splendid display by dancers and skaters from in and around Birmingham and a parade of the athletes from the countries taking part. The Deputy lady Mayoress and I stayed on for the first match of the championships which featured the Great Britain women’s team against the Netherlands.
Our photo shows the teams lining up at the start of the match.This was an exciting game in what is a fast and fluid sport. Although participants usually have a disability you don’t need to be disabled to enjoy playing the game.
The opening game was very, very close with Great Britain taking an early lead and sustaining it until the second half. However, there must have been a particularly effective pep talk by the Netherlands coach as the lead was clawed back and in a nail-biting finish the Netherlands eventually came out the winners by 39 to 38. It couldn’t have been closer.
All praise to the competitors, the organisers, the volunteers and city council officers for making the opening day such a great success for the sport and for the city.
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