Photo Credit: Illustrations - © Can Stock Photo / kstudija
The Larry Turner Classic is a National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA)-sanctioned tournament hosted annually by the Texas State University Recreation Division and the Seton Brain and Spine Institute. The tournament, which has become a fixture on the early-season schedule for Texas’ adaptive-sports community, will see its ninth iteration in October 2016. Each year, teams from across the state come to the Texas State University campus in San Marcos to compete in Championship, Division III, and Juniors Divisions.
The level of competition, particularly in the Championship Division, is exceptionally high. Three tournament regulars are currently ranked among the division’s top 20 teams nationally, and the top-ranked Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks—that won the Classic in 2015—vied for a 14th NWBA National Championship in April. Despite the big-time rivalries being contested on the courts, though, the atmosphere in the gym is one of cooperative learning and mutual support.
The Classic, after all, is as much an educational experience as it is a basketball tournament. It is executed by a team of over 100 student volunteers, many of whom are being exposed to adaptive sports for the first time, under the guidance of their faculty and community partners. Under the guidance of the competing athletes, too, who embrace the tournament as a showcase, not only for elite talent but also for the power of the sport they love. This advocating spirit—as well as the uniquely student-centered production strategy—makes the Larry Turner Classic a particularly convincing case for both the need for adaptive-sports programs and the feasibility of providing them.