That was fun!

 

This year’s Wheelchair Basketball Tournament, held on March 15th at 9:00 AM at the Raymond Skinner Center in Memphis, delivered once again. The Sheriff’s Office came back as defending champs and walked away with another hard-fought win, holding off Memphis Parks in a 10-8 final. The MPD’s Crumpy Bunch and Terumo Medical’s Terumo Thunder fought hard, but the trophy stays put for another year.

 

The weather didn’t stop these teams from showing up and playing hard. MPD worked around shifts to be there. Captain Melanie Dorsey coached from the sidelines, making sure they brought their best. A Parks player even had their infant courtside because this tournament is always a family affair.

 

At The Arc Mid-South, inclusion is at the heart of everything we do. Sports brings people together in a way that few other things can. As Nelson Mandela said, "Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite." That’s exactly what this tournament does.

 

That’s exactly what this tournament is about. Every year, Memphis’s biggest institutions take the court to experience what it takes to think and move differently. To see each other from a different perspective—not through titles or uniforms, but through the game.

 

A huge thank you to everyone who made this event possible.

• The teams: Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, Memphis Parks Athletic Department, Terumo Medical, and Memphis Police Department–Crumpy Bunch, for competing at the highest level.

• The volunteers (the Foster family, Alunda Bradley, and Katherine Holt) for keeping everything running.

• The referees (Rezelle Foster, Jr., Van Parker, and Barry Jones) for calling a fair game.

• Rod Mason, for keeping the crowd engaged as our commentator.

• Tabitha Hill, for capturing the tournament’s biggest moments in photographs and videos.

• Paralyzed Veterans of America, for providing wheelchairs.

• The Raymond Skinner Center, for hosting us again and standing with us in the fight for disability rights.

 

We’re already looking forward to next year!