IHI Kansai Branch Holds Wheelchair Basketball Event
On November 24, IHI Kansai Branch held a wheelchair basketball event for employees and their families in the arena of Amity Maishima, the Osaka City Maishima Sports Center for Persons with Disabilities.
Roughly 60 employees and family members, including employees of IHI Group companies with offices or sites in Kansai, took part in the event.
Since 2015, IHI has been an official sponsor of the Japan Wheelchair Basketball Federation. Every year, IHI holds events around the country to share the appeal and fun of wheelchair basketball and to further increase the number of fans of the sport.
Players from the Cocktail and Nara DEER teams, which are members of the Kinki Wheelchair Basketball Federation, explained the rules and highlights of wheelchair basketball, competed against each other in an exhibition match, and provided participants with opportunities to try wheelchair basketball themselves.
Athletes Chihiro Kitada and Mari Amimoto, members of Cocktail who both competed in the Paris Paralympic Games, provided clear explanations of the rules and highlights of wheelchair basketball, along with demonstrations. The two teams then began an exhibition match, and spectators got to watch a heated game.
In the hands-on wheelchair basketball session, participants used actual competition wheelchairs to practice shooting and play minigames. Through this, they learned how to operate the wheelchairs and experienced the speeds these wheelchairs are capable of. The participants also got a first-hand feel of how difficult it is to carry a ball while operating a wheelchair and to shoot while seated.
Employees and family members who took part in the event shared that "The speed and dexterity of the athletes was impressive," "I realized the need to use strategy to do things like blocking opponents," and "I experienced the thrill of competing in sports on a level field, regardless of whether or not players had physical disabilities." Through the event, the many attendees had fun while gaining a deeper understanding of wheelchair basketball.
The IHI Group will continue to support wheelchair basketball through events such as these.
