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« World History of Wheelchair Basketball »^{(Archive.org • Wikiwix • Archive.is • Google • Que faire ?)}

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In 1995 wheelchair basketball celebrated its 50th anniversary. The game was first played in the U.S.A., when basketball players injured during World War II adapted the running game to four wheels in order to continue their enjoyment in sport and particularly team sport. Those early beginnings in U.S. Veterans Administration Hospitals promoted the formation of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (N.W.B.A.) run by the players for the players. Word of the game spread quickly throughout the U.S.A. and elsewhere. In 1955 the touring U.S. Pan Am Jets team first brought wheelchair basketball to England when they took part in the first international competition at Stoke Mandeville. Up to that time wheelchair netball had been played in England.

The 1960's saw the sport dominated by two teams, the U.S.A. and latterly Israel who won both men's and women's gold medals at the 1968 Paralympic Games in Tel Aviv. In the early 1970's the European stage was dominated by Great Britain and in 1975 the first World Championships for Men, the Gold Cup, took place in Bruges, Belgium. Israel defeated the U.S.A. in the final 50 - 47, with Great Britain taking the bronze medal.

The U.S.A. during the 1970's was not to be outdone by Israel and beat them in the final of both the 1972 and 1976 Paralympic Men's tournaments. Argentina won the Women's Paralympic title in 1972 and Israel the 1976 gold medal in Toronto. The late 1970's saw Israel participate, for the first time, in European competition winning the Men's European Championships on three occasions, in 1977, 1978 and 1981. It also saw the emergence of France and Holland as major world wheelchair basketball nations. European club competition got underway in 1976 with the founding of the "Euro Cup" for national club champions.

At the 1980 Paralympics in Arnhem, Holland, the U.S.A.'s hold on the Men's Paralympic title was broken by their defeat to the Dutch side in the semi-final. The Dutch were then favourites to win the gold medal but were defeated 54 to 44 by Israel, owing to a superlative performance from master tactician Baruch Hagai. The "Gold Cup" was won by the U.S.A. in 1979, 1983 and 1986 and they also won the men's Paralympic title in 1988 and 1992.

Throughout the 1980's, France emerged as a most potent wheelchair basketball force. They won the Men's Paralympic title in 1984 and were Men's European Champions from 1982 to the end of the decade. This rise to the top was crowned in 1990 when France beat the U.S.A. 62 - 61 in the "Gold Cup" final. Women's international wheelchair basketball was dominated by West Germany from 1975 until the Paralympic Games in Seoul 1988 where they were defeated by a very strong U.S. team. The U.S.A. remained as the dominant team until the Barcelona Paralympic Games when Canada won the gold medal defeating the U.S.A. in front of 12,500 spectators.

In 1993 the GB men's team took the Silver medal at the European Championships, losing 57 - 52 to The Netherlands. The following year, at the World Championships held in Edmonton, Canada, the GB team again took Silver when they lost in the Final to the USA 53 - 67. In May 1995, the GB team won its first International competition since the 1970's when they defeated Spain 61 - 59 in the Final of the European Championships. This was followed, in August 1996, by the GB team taking its first ever Paralympic Medal at the Championships in Atlanta. In the Final of the competition, the GB team went down 63 - 78 to Australia, winning the Silver Medal.

Madrid hosted the 1997 the European Championships, where the GB Men's team won the Silver Medal, losing to France 44 - 46 in the final. The GB Women's team won the Bronze Medal in the women's event, won by the Netherlands. The two Silver Medals won by the GB Men's team were instrumental in them obtaining National Lottery funding, through UK Sport's World Class Performance Programme in 1998. This allowed the Association to employ a full time Performance Director and professional coaching staff for the team and squad members received individual grants to allow them to become full time athletes.

The World Championships of 1998 were held in Sydney, where GB had a very disappointing tournament, finishing 5th. The USA won the men's competition with Canada winning the women's. GB Women finished in 7th place. The 1999 European Championships were held in Roermond, the Netherlands. In the Men's final France beat Germany 57 - 40, with GB finishing a disappointing 4th. GB Women won the Bronze Medal again after defeating Russia 49 - 28. Germany won the women's championship with a 40 - 37 win over the Netherlands.

Sydney also hosted the 2000 Paralympics, where GB again finished outside the medals, losing to the USA in the Bronze Medal game to a last second 3 point shot from just inside the half way line. The final was won by Canada 57 - 43 against the Netherlands. In the women's competition GB finished 8th, with Canada winning the Gold after a 46 - 27 win over Australia. The European Championships of 2001 were delayed due to difficulty finding a host, which resulted in only the Men's tournament taking place in the Netherlands. GB again finished a disappointing 4th, with France repeating their Gold Medal performance in 1999 by defeating the Netherlands 76 - 56 in the final.

The 2002 Gold Cup (World Championships) were held in Kitakyushu, Japan. Under serious threat of losing World Class Performance funding the GB Men's team performed heroically to win the Silver Medal, losing in the final to the USA 74 - 61. GB Women finished 8th in their competition, which was won by Canada 49 - 38 against the USA.

GB won the Bronze Medal at the 2003 European Championships held in Sassari, Italy in June, which qualified them for the 2004 Athens Paralympics. The GB Women's team also qualified for Athens after winning the Bronze Medal in the Women's competition held in Hamburg in February. The GB U23 team won the 3rd European Junior Championships held in Malle, Belgium in July, defeating France 82 - 52 in the final.

The 2004 Paralympic Championships saw Canada once more dominate the men's competition, winning all their matches. In the final they defeated Australia 70 -53. Canada reached the final after defeating The Netherlands 91 - 70 in the semi finals, whilst Australia overcame GB 64 - 52 in the other semi. GB won the Bronze medal game defeating The Netherlands 82 - 66. In the women's competition, the USA finally broke Canada's dominance of recent major championships, when they defeated them 57 - 40 in the semi finals. Australia also reached the final after defeating Germany 58 - 50. The USA showed that they are once more the leaders in the women's game, defeating Australia comfortably 56 - 44 in the final. Canada won the Bronze medal, defeating Germany 63 - 47.

At the 2005 European Championships, held in Paris, the GB Men's team finished as Silver Medal winners, losing in a very tight game to Italy 54 - 56, but guaranteeing themselves a qualification place at the 2006 World Championships in Amsterdam. In the women's competition, held in Villeneuve d'Ascq, France in September, GB finished 4th, losing out on a qualification place for the 2006 World Championships, after losing to France 32 - 41 in the Bronze medal game.

2005 saw GB host its first major competition for over a decade, when it hosted the 2005 World Junior Championships in Birmingham in August. A very successful tournament saw USA defeat Japan 73 - 34 in the final and GB losing out on a medal, losing 38 - 61 to Australia in the Bronze medal game. The success of the tournament was very influential in the awarding to GB of the 2010 World Championships, which will again be hosted in Birmingham, fighting off equally high quality bids from Vancouver and Paris.

The 2006 World Championships in Amsterdam in July saw GB Men get off to a great start in their pool games, defeating the USA 48 - 42. However, disappointing results against Australia and France saw them finish 3rd in their pool and a match up against hosts The Netherlands in the quarter finals. Despite leading for much of the game, a poor final quarter saw GB lose 53 - 57, resulting in them having to battle out in the 5th to 8th classification round. Two sound wins against Japan and Sweden resulted in the team finishing in 5th place.

A hardback book "The 50th Anniversary of Wheelchair Basketball" by Horst Strohkendl is available to purchase from the Association's Office. It contains a comprehensive history of the world game since its creation as a sport. The book is priced at £20.00 plus carriage and packing.

— Berdea (discuter) 14 septembre 2021 à 01:27 (CEST)