Denver is about to host the largest wheelchair-basketball championship in history when more than 1,000 athletes descend on the city March 18-21.
The National Wheelchair Basketball Association is bringing 85 teams from six of its seven divisions to Denver for the national tournament, including the women’s division and the junior teams, which range in ages from 8 to 18. There will be a total of 172 games played, mostly at Metropolitan State College at Auraria and at the Gold Crown Foundation courts on South Harlan and West Alameda Avenue in Lakewood. A few games will be played at Craig Rehabilitation Center in Englewood and a few at the Whitlock Recreation Center off West Colfax Avenue and Dover Street in Lakewood.
No games are scheduled the night of March 20 as the athletes go to the Pepsi Center for a Denver Nuggets game against the Washington Wizards and a special presentation.
For those who haven’t seen a wheelchair basketball game, it’s not a polite affair. Crashes and rollovers are common. One seasoned fan even called it “NASCAR basketball.”
The logistics can be challenging for such an event. More than 3,500 room-nights have been booked in 11 hotels around the metro area. Hotel elevators, which can hold up to 12 people, can hold only two or three chairs.
Some of the hotels are near RTD’s light-rail lines, including the Doubletree on Orchard Avenue, and the Marriott and Hilton hotels at Lincoln Avenue. Others include a number of hotels near West Hampden Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard. RTD trains normally can accommodate only four wheelchairs per car but can be rearranged during off-peak hours to hold seven or eight, said RTD spokesman Scott Reed.
The group had reserved dozens of vans from Advantage Car Rental, which recently declared bankruptcy and began shutting down its offices, said NWBA executive director Todd Hatfield.
Because players use separate chairs for playing, three semi- trailers and 10 storage pods have been rented to hold their playing chairs between games.
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com
