Skip to main content

National Paralympic Day - Liam Holt talks wheelchair hoops

Ahead of National Paralympic Day on Saturday 7th September we will be running a series of interviews on the Paralympics - particularly wheelchair basketball.

If you want to know more about the sport of wheelchair basketball click HERE for an introduction to the sport (go to the bottom of the page).

Liam Holt is our first interviewee, he plays wheelchair basketball and was part of Channel 4's Paralympic presenting team during London 2012.

Holt was keen to encourage people who hadn't played or seen wheelchair basketball to get involved.

He said: "It's a fast-paced game which is brutal at times! To me it is just as exciting as the able-bodied game."

"The wheelchairs add a different dimension, the element of positioning and controlling the chairs make the game more strategical."

"It's exciting to watch, like an extreme chess or chess with violence! People who come for the first time are pleasantly surprised by what they see."

"I started playing when I was nine, I went to a taster day at my local leisure centre and the sport caught my attention instantly, my dad is able-bodied and he joined in as well - able-bodied people are able to play in the league as well."

With a keen interest in wheelchair basketball, Holt became a member of Channel 4's  highly successful Paralympics, what does he think the future holds for the coverage?

"London [2012] was a real pioneer in the coverage, there was dedicated coverage throughout the day and the fact it was on a separate channel from the Olympics gave the Paralympics it's own identity."

"There is a lot of human interest from the public in hearing the paralympians stories but they soon realised the elite level of sport involved."

"It's great that we have a dedicated day to recognise the various achievements and promote disability sport, people can see the legacy, there are now many household names in the Paralympic world."

For tickets for National Paralympic Day click HERE or for more info click HERE.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Kendal Johnson wants to ball in the BBL

Kendal Johnson is an American who wants to play in England in a busy week where he is likely to find out where he will be playing and when. Johnson is the cousin of NBA star Marcus Camby and is looking to be a player/coach in the British Basketball League or English Basketball League. He admits he doesn't know too much about the current state of British basketball but has heard good things. He said: 'I've always wanted to go to England but I don't know a lot about the basketball league, I have a friend at the Worcester Wolves and he has told me there is lot's of positives.' 'I've played basketball since I was little obviously having Marcus Camby as a cousin I was always in that sort of environment.' Johnson revealed he had been in talks with various BBL and EBL clubs and is hoping a move can be agreed in the coming days. He also thinks that it is important to get young people involved in sport. He added: 'One thing I would like to ...

Hardaway Jr ready for London debut

It was a disappointing start to the 2014/15 season for the New York Knicks as they suffered a 104-80 defeat to the Chicago Bulls. The Knicks will be playing at The O2 Arena in London in January as part of the 2015 NBA Global Games. Tim Hardaway Jr has never been to London and is looking forward to the challenge as the Knicks take on the Milwaukee Bucks. He said: " When I was a kid, London Bridge is falling down, that's all I used to hear about London. I know that there are some great tourist attractions you see them all in the movies all the time. "You see it on computers and pictures that people post, and my friends going there to visit. I just can't wait to be a part of that. "The New York Knicks posted a picture of Amar'e Stoudemire with his hands held high and it said 'The Knicks are returning to London in 2014 -15'.  "I was very ecstatic, I was happy, excited, all at the same time. I couldn't wait to be a part of it." ...

Ballin' Song of the Week 14

This week it's Nas with Damian Marley - My Generation, apologies for the lack of posts the Hub is working on a *hush-hush project.