Letter to Basketball NSW - On behalf of Members of the Wheelchair Sport community in NSW/ACT

Dear Jennifer Dean, Chair of Basketball NSW,

As Members of Wheelchair Sports NSW/ACT, the Governing Body for Wheelchair Sport in NSW, we are Members of the playing community of the great sport of Wheelchair Basketball. 

Since 1961, our community has run the sport successfully, generating decades of terrific competition, many Paralympians, and success on the world stage. 

In 2019, our representative organisation invited Basketball NSW into a series of workshops to see if we could grow our sport even further, by working in Co-Delivery for specific parts of the Pathway. We suggested Wheelchair Basketball be included in the Waratah League, the State League for Basketball in NSW, and were pleased that Basketball NSW agreed. 

After COVID stifled our start, we worked in Co-Delivery for the first year of the Waratah League in 2022, which is defined by 3 principles:

1) Both organisations are involved in Co-Designing the League

2) Both organisations remain operational in delivering the League

3) The organisations Co-Brand announcements regarding the League

The first year was a success, and we anticipated this would be a great new element to our Wheelchair Basketball Pathway.

However, in late 2022 our Association noticed a change in approach from Basketball NSW, which was later confirmed by the Board of Basketball NSW on March 29th 2023, when they wrote to our Board: 

"We feel that Basketball NSW is better placed to manage the development of the sport beyond the grassroots social hubs to elite including the Wheelchair league".

At this point Wheelchair Sports NSW/ACT as our Association, fought for our right to retain our role in Co-Delivering the Waratah League, and eventually Basketball NSW agreed for 2023. Another successful League was held, in Co-Delivery, and we believed we had settled the best way forward, utilising the skills and knowledge of both organisations for the health of the sport.

However, following the 2023 Waratah League Season, Basketball NSW wrote to our Association again to question the legitimacy of our status as the Governing Body for Wheelchair Basketball in NSW. Basketball NSW demanded Wheelchair Sports NSW/ACT produce a letter from the NSW Office of Sport, maintaining Basketball NSW “reserve the right to submit a GIPA request to the Office of Sport for the letter to be released to us”.

Our Association checked with the NSW Office of Sport as to whether it was appropriate to share the letter confirming this status, and upon gaining approval from the NSW Office of Sport, sent that confirmation letter to Basketball NSW. However, we note that this sort of behaviour is not what we expect from a Sporting Partner who wishes to engage with our sport in good faith.

Notwithstanding the confirmation letter, Basketball NSW communicated on January 1st 2024 that they would still "pursue integration of wheelchair basketball with our member associations".

As the community who has led the sport of Wheelchair Basketball with sustained success over decades in NSW, we are determined not to have our agency and role in delivering Wheelchair Basketball taken over by Basketball NSW and its Member Associations.

Further, we know from experience that trying to integrate Wheelchair Basketball into the Basketball Associations will not sustainably grow the sport. The expertise in delivering our sport, combined with 100% focus on our athletes, knowledge of venue/travel requirements, and depth of understanding of Classification in Wheelchair Sport, exists within our community, which is represented by Wheelchair Sports NSW/ACT. 

This is not to say that we don’t want to work alongside the Basketball Associations that are willing to contribute, however we certainly want to retain our voice through Wheelchair Sports NSW/ACT, and for Basketball NSW to engage with our community in that way. We do not want to be integrated into the Basketball Associations.

We urge Basketball NSW to return to the Co-Delivery Model with Wheelchair Sports NSW/ACT, for the 2024 Waratah League. We also urge Basketball NSW to listen to our experience as people with disabilities who understand the differences in administering Wheelchair Sport, and to respect those differences.

We still recognise the advantages of working in Co-Delivery, as we did when inviting Basketball NSW into this space in 2019, and it is our preference to do this moving forward.