OSU wheelchair basketball fundraiser is worth more than the cost of admission
The annual fundraising game that the OSU wheelchair basketball team plays against the men’s and women’s teams isn’t very well advertised or well promoted. It is, however, well worth more than the $5 admission.
I’ve been living in Stillwater and covering OSU basketball for almost three years, and I attended the event for the first time this year. I may have been out of town or something in the past, but honestly I just don’t remember hearing much about it. And I’m not alone — attendance at this year’s even couldn’t have been more than a couple hundred people. Which is an absolute shame, because it’s far and away one of the coolest events I’ve been to inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.
The Spokes are incredibly impressive — I was particularly blown away by Millwood High graduate Jason Walley, who I wrote a story about after the event. These guys fly, and it’s only more impressive when you see how much star athletes like James Anderson and Andrea Riley struggle to even move their chairs.
For OSU fans this is not only an opportunity to support the Spokes, but also to see the Cowboys and Cowgirls up close and personal. You can sit in the lower bowl for $5 –which is what, only about a thousand percent less than what you pay for regular games?
And during the season, you just see players with their game faces on. At this event you get a candid look at who these guys and girls really are — teasing each other for shooting airballs, admiring the Spokes for how good they are, sticking around to sign autographs afterward. Heck, you could have even stopped by and said hello to Travis Ford, who watched with his youngest son.
I’m not generally in the business of telling people what to do, but this is a great event. Next year we’ll try to promote it more in the paper, and OSU fans should get themselves there.
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Andrea,
It was a pleasure meeting you and discussing the OSU Wheelchair Basketball team. I hope you gained another perspective on these unique student-athletes and enjoyed your time. If you were unable to obtain our head coaches information, Stacy can be reached at stacy.pinney@okstate.edu and our webpage can be found at http://campusrec.okstate.edu/bash/ and OSU adaptive sports http://campusrec.okstate.edu/adaptivesport/ .
Again, great to talk with you and please let me know if we can be of any assistance in the future.
Take care,
Matt O’Brien