Discovering Wheelchair Basketball — WE ARE GIRLS IN SPORT

It was a great pleasure to interview Siobhan Fitzpatrick on how she found a passion for wheelchair basketball in 2010. A real sports court to podium story of success. An award-winning player, Siobhan has an extensive junior career having co-captained the women’s team to back-to-back championship wins at the 2015 U25 Worlds and 2016 U24 Europeans – a feat not achieved by any other female GB junior team.

Now a regular member of the GB line-up Siobhan and the GB women’s team made history in 2018 at the Hamburg World Championship by being the first female British team to qualify for a final and claim the silver medal.

Siobhan, how old were you when you first started Wheelchair Basketball?

I was twelve years old (ten years ago!). Crazy to even think that.

How did you discover the sport?

PE within my school wasn’t accessible and although I was an avid sports fan, I knew I wanted to participate! Paralympic sport pre-London 2012 was not greatly advertised and even with me being disabled I was unaware that sport could be an option for me!

I was asked to attend a “playground to podium” event which is a Paralympic sport “have a go” day! I fell in love with the team aspect of wheelchair basketball and realised there was a club only ten minutes down the road from my house! I just wish I’d known sooner.

I used to go every Tuesday and Thursday evening and for once I felt “equal”. I was allowed to be me. I didn’t have to sit and watch my twin sister dance anymore or watch my peers participate in sports and get disheartened because I now had my own sporting outlet. I then became the sport’s biggest fan following at the time my sporting heroes and little did I know most of these girls would become my best friends and teammates.

What has been a career highlight for you on your basketball journey so far?

It’s hard to pick a sole career highlight. As a GB junior athlete it has to be winning the U25 World championships, something a GB women’s team has never done! As a GB senior athlete, it was becoming a silver medallist at the World Championships it was - our first international final and the feeling of elation will stay with me forever!

What do you love about playing your chosen sport and how does it make you feel?

The love I have for wheelchair basketball is huge; this love began in my domestic junior days where we as a city and region (Coventry/West Midlands) won all the competitions you could! I love the fact that ANYONE can play this sport domestically as it’s accessible to all! We are the only country to have a national league solely for women participants and this is an incredible platform to allow women of all levels, international to beginners, to all be together and learn and develop in a fun atmosphere!

What do you enjoy the most about playing in a team?

For me, team sport is everything. These girls within GB have become my second family. A mix of 12 different individuals with very different stories all becoming the most amazing, disjointed yet unified family. We train together daily and we get each other through all of life’s difficulties ranging from relationships to university degrees to choosing an outfit for an event.

Through participating in a team sport, I have definitely found that I am able to accept my disability because it makes me who I am and that’s allowed my personal confidence to grow! Team sport for me is the best. Yes, you have to individually perform but knowing you can impact the team’s goal adds competitive pressure that I just thrive for and it drives me to train harder.

And finally, what is your best advice for encouraging more girls to give sport a try?

Push yourself out of your comfort zone and just try it! Try a lot of sports if you can and find the one you love because sport has given me such enjoyment and became my way of life!

Thank you, Siobhan, for that inspiring interview. We’ve been really impressed by Siobhan’s story and if you have a great story to share too on finding a new sport (even by accident), we would love to hear from you.

For more information, visit https://britishwheelchairbasketball.co.uk/