On 16 and 17 May 2015, in Triaditsa sports hall was held First basketball tournament for people in wheelchairs for the Cup of Sofia Municipality. The organizers included Sofia Municipality, Rotary Club Sofia-Balkan, Basketball Club for People in Wheelchairs Sofia-Balkan, Bulgarian Basketball Federation and NSA.
The team of Sofia-Balkan finished convincingly in the first place with four victories in four games. The Varna 2010 team finished second and Jawelin Bourgas – third. Nikolay Vaklinov from the Sofia-Balkan team was awarded the best scorer and the 10-year-old Tsvetomir received the award for the most progressive player.
The purpose of this tournament was to promote basketball for people in wheelchairs; to contribute to the improvement of physical and mental health and the full integration of the athletes; to attract public attention, support and new athletes, and to lay the foundations for the formation of the first national basketball team for wheelchair users. Official guests of the sporting event were Kalin Kamenov, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports; Velina Beleva-Vlahova, Deputy Mayor of Studentski District, Sofia Municipality; Eleonora Rangelova, Secretary General of the Bulgarian Basketball Federation; Iliya Lalov, Chairman of the Management Board of the Bulgarian Paralympic Association; Prof. Pencho Geshev, Rector of NSA; Todor Shabanski, Infocenter Sofia – European Capital of Sport 2018; Ivan Tsenov, Manager of Triaditza Sports Hall, Nina Miteva, Rotary District Governor of D2482 – Bulgaria 2015-2016; Dimitar Dimitrov, Rotary District Governor of D2482 – Bulgaria 2016-2017; Plamen Minev, Pest District Governor; Stoil Kostov-Assistant District Governor.
A day before the tournament matches, a workshop for wheelchair judges in wheelchairs was held on May 15th. Later was Darko Shovran – international basketball basketball referee and member of the Belgrate-Metropolitan Rotary Club. The book by Rositsa Tsarova, a NSA lecturer on carts basketball, was also presented.
Basketball clubs hope to attract like-minded people, organizations and state bodies that, through their support in different areas, will enable them to function fully and provide conditions for the development of this new sport for Bulgaria.
Basketball Club for People in Wheelchairs Sofia-Balkan was established in 2007 by Rotaract Club Sofia – Balkan and Rotary Club Sofia – Balkan with the support of the Bulgarian Basketball Federation and National Sports Academy. It is a non-profit organization whose activity is oriented towards providing the necessary specialized wheelchairs, coaches, appropriate gymnasiums and medical specialists for practicing this sport, as well as all other conditions for the development of the team, such as organizing sports meetings with other teams , participation in and organization of international tournaments and seminars in this sport. Subsequently, with the support of Rotary Club Varna-Galateia, the team of Varna 2010 was created. The third Bulgarian club – Jagelin-Burgas is also a Rotary project – Rotary Burgas-Pyrgos and Rotaract Burgas-Pyrgos.
This sport is proof of the irreconcilability of the human spirit and the power of sport as a social phenomenon. It embodies many of the Rotary values, and its development in Bulgaria, thanks to Rotary, is quite natural. The goal is to create more teams around the country in partnership with local Rotary clubs, popularize and develop sports in Bulgaria, and create a national team for the Paralympic Games.
The Triaditsa Sports Hall is provided free of charge for the National Wheelchair Basketball Championship and United Partners is working.
