Nearly 20 Upward Bound students gathered in the RA Facility on Sept. 24 to get a unique learning experience from SMSU’s wheelchair basketball team.

The Upward Bound program is a service provided to ninth through 12th grade students from Marshall High School and Yellow Medicine East High School. The program has 58 total students who are exposed to different activities that help them master skill areas related to high school graduation and college entrance.

Upward Bound hosts Saturday Sessions for the students once a month. Previous events included ACT prep, career assessments and college visits. Director of Upward Bound Amy Nemitz says teaming up with the wheelchair basketball team is the first time a sports-related event of this kind has been offered as a Saturday Session.

“The overall goal is to introduce the Upward Bound students to this sport and recognize what a sport like this has to offer to students and people with disabilities,” Nemitz said. “The students in Upward Bound are a very diverse group, and having a disability is just one more aspect of diversity.”

As students walked into the RA Facility, they were exposed to the sport right away. While the team was practicing, Wheelchair Basketball Coach Derek Klinkner explained the rules and answered any questions. Players then helped the students into wheelchairs of their own and learned how they were used.

“We are hoping this event demonstrates to the Upward Bound students that nothing is impossible,” Nemitz said. “This is just one more experience for students to expand their knowledge and interests.”

Players broke into groups with the students and showed them how to handle the basketball, dribble and shoot from the wheelchairs. After students had a chance to play, they watched the team play a game to appreciate the difficulty of the sport.

The idea for this Saturday Session arose after Klinkner was talking with Nemitz and Assistant to the Director of Upward Bound Torrie Ward. Klinkner has been a coach to the team since 2012. He hopes the students gain more understanding of the sport, which has been played at SMSU since 1971.

“We do these demonstrations whenever the opportunity presents itself,” Klinkner said. “Not a lot of people know about our sport. I didn’t know about wheelchair basketball until after my accident. It’s a lot harder than it looks.”

Students were very receptive to this event, and to the Upward Bound program as a whole. After being in the program, Marshall High School Senior Faiza Nur will be starting at SMSU in January.

“It really helps you get ready for college,” Nur said.

Marshall High School Junior Keri Her said she got the hang of the wheelchair right away and even made a couple of shots. She also enjoys the Upward Bound program.

“I love all the college trips,” Her said. “We have a lot of opportunities to decide what we want to do in the future. I think it’s a good opportunity because you meet a lot of new people, and you get to do a lot of fun activities.”