The Houston Challengers, a nonprofit wheelchair soccer team, live by the idea that sports are for everyone.
"The game is universal for all people with physical disabilities. It’s an ideal sport where people can just show up and recreate," coach Dave Stephenson said.
Indoor wheelchair soccer is a cross-disability activity played with six-player teams. The activity combines passing, catching, kicking and throwing skills, and a 10-inch rubber utility ball is used instead of a soccer ball.
Since its establishment in 1982, the Houston Challengers have won seven out of 10 Open Divisions.
UH graduate student Jacob Klementich, who recieved a traumatic head injury in 1982 that affected his ability to walk and talk, has played for the Houston Challengers since 1986.
"It’s a sport meant for the gamut of disabilities," Klementich, who does not otherwise use a wheelchair, said. "(Being on the team) has taught me teamwork."
Houston has three wheelchair soccer teams – the Houston Challengers, the Houston Toros and a new team will be forming soon at the Pasadena Parks and Recreation Center.
Stephenson, a high school geography teacher, began coaching wheelchair soccer because of its unique character.
"I fell in love with the sport. The game is kind of like basketball – it’s indoors on a court and you bounce the ball. A lot of the skill sets and drills are related to basketball," Stephenson said.
Klementich said he thinks UH should implement a wheelchair soccer team.
Stephenson agreed that a UH team would be beneficial to the University’s disabled students.
"We have made ourselves available to the (Center for Students with Disabilities) and the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center to do a clinic to help them get a club started for UH students who want to play wheelchair soccer," Stephenson said.
CSD Director Cheryl Amoruso said that the center has been working toward starting more adaptive sports activities at UH, including wheelchair soccer.
"A wheelchair soccer team is one of the activities that we are seeing if students might be interested in," Amoruso said.
Amoruso added that she thinks the reason UH doesn’t have any disabled sports already is that not very many students seem to know about them.
"I think the big problem is getting the word out to students who are interested," she said.
Earlier this semester, CSD sent out a survey asking disabled students what adaptive sports they are interested in trying out.
"The surveys are coming in continuously. So far the top selected sports are basketball, racquetball and weights," Amoruso said.
Once the top adaptive sports are determined, Amoruso said UH will host an adaptive sports event Oct. 18 to further determine which clubs will be created.
Disabled UH students will be able to go to the Rec Center and try workout equipment and test different adaptable sports, she said.
The objective of the event is to encourage students who have disabilities to utilize the Rec Center, demonstrate how accesible it is and provide more information on the types of sports students may be interested in playing.
The Houston Challengers meet on Tuesdays and Saturdays at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center in downtown Houston.
