WBFI
Wheelchair Basketball Federation of India, (WBFI) is a registered society based in Chennai with a mandate to promote the sport of Wheelchair Basketball (WCBB) in India. Affiliated to International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) and Paralympic Committee of India, (PCI), WBFI actively advocates and supports players grass root organization and coordinates with government and other stakeholders with the aim of developing a string contingent of wheelchair basketball players across States.
VISION
Our vision is to enable large-scale participation and following for wheelchair basketball as a means to empower physically-challenged persons and to nurture strong state-level and national teams for Wheelchair Basketball in India
MISSION
Promote development of wheelchair Basketball as a sport and entertainment in India
Facilitate mass following and participation in wheelchair basketball
Develop and support high quality state level and national teams for wheelchair basketball
Facilitate development of world class infrastructure and training facilities for WCB in India
Inculcate leadership, sportsmanship, good citizenship and confidence among WCB sports persons
Network with international bodies, Government agencies, scientific bodies, sports bodies, institutions of national importance like ISIC, etc., to develop sports science and technology for wheelchair basketball
Advocacy for supportive policy environment for paralympic sport in India
Develop a Sustainable financing model to achieve the mission.
In less than 3 years, we have been able to develop 14 State level teams including 7 all-women teams reaching out to around 500 players. Four National Championships were conducted by us in 2014 in Chennai, 2015 in Delhi, 2016 in Chennai and in 2017 in Hyderabad.
Workshops for players were conducted in Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. We encourage children and women to take part in wheelchair basketball sport.
We organized the biggest first-of-its-kind National technical camp from 22-26 June 2016 in partnership with International Committee of the Red Cross and Sports Development Authority of Telengana State. On the technical side, WBFI partnered with two global disability sports organizations; the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation and the International Paralympic Committee’s Agitos Foundation. This camp was conducted by – Ms Maureen Orchard (Canada), Secretary General, IWBF, Mr Norbert Kucera (Germany), Chairman, Technical Commission, IWBF, Mr Toufic Allouche (Lebanon), Classification Officer, IWBF Asia Oceania Zone (IWBF Classification Instructor) and Mr Maurice Hammerton (UK), Development Officer, IWBF, Europe. First International exhibition match between India and Thailand was conducted at the end of camp.
For the first time Under-23 Men’s team played in World Championship qualifiers in Bangkok, Thailand. Again for the first time 10 women players and two coaches were sent to an International Training camp held in Thailand. WBFI men’s and women’s teams also participated in the 4th Bali Cup International Tournament. Both teams won bronze medals in the tournament, which is commendable. These were the first International medals won by Indian teams as far as wheelchair basketball is concerned. These were really proud moments for WBFI.