photo by Robert Stewart: Scott Sampson, Malcolm, looks to the basket during a wheelchair basketball against the David City Student Council during Jan. 13 Malcolm/David City girls' basketball game.

by Robert Stewart

    Scott Sampson, 15, of Malcolm, did not take tragedy sitting down, or rather he found that sitting down provided new perspective and opportunity.
     In 1997, when Scott was just six years old, he was struck by a car while riding his bike in Malcolm. The accident resulted in the loss of his left leg just below the knee.
     Although use of a prosthetic leg allows him mobility for daily activities, Scott was unable to participate in organized sports at school. Until about five years ago.
     "There was a camp in Omaha that wanted children with disabilities and I got hooked up with that and he spent a week doing that," Theresa Sampson, Scott's mother, said.
     The camp was for wheelchair basketball, a sport which Scott was initially tentative about but found that he enjoyed.
     "I thought is would be sort hard to move a wheelchair and dribble at the same time but after we started practicing I liked it," Scott said.
     The interest and skill that Scott demonstrated eventually led to a place on the Nebraska Red Dawgs wheelchair basketball team.
     The team is comprised of athletes unable to compete in traditional athletics because of disabilities, but some players on the team, such as Scott, do not use wheelchairs on a daily basis. It is open to competitors high school age and younger.
     They practice at the University of Nebraska in Omaha (UNO) every Saturday during the season, which runs from October to April. They compete at tournaments around the country from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois to California. Scott said the farthest he has ever travelled for a tournament was to Alabama.
     Apart from the wheelchairs themselves, which are made available by UNO, one of the largest expenses involved in the game is the travel.
     "Everybody usually drives. The parents drive unless it's really far then we fly," Theresa said.
     Assistance for travel is provided by the non-profit organization Eastern Nebraska Wheelchair Athletic Association (ENWAA).
     "(They) pay for the kid and one parent to fly, ENWAA does," Theresa said.
     The team also holds demonstration games and fundraisers to help finance its travel. The Red Dawgs played a demonstration game against members of the David City and Malcolm High School student councils during halftime of the girls' and boys' basketball games at Malcolm on Jan. 13.
     Theresa said the game gave Scott and his teammates the chance to showcase their skills in front of Scott's classmates.
     "Everyone's been wanting to see him, what he does, 'cause he talks about it all the time," Theresa said.
     The Red Dawgs consists of a prep team, the youngest players, and a JV team, of which Scott is a member. The varsity team was recently disbanded due to a lack of players.
     The rules of wheelchair basketball are essentially the same as in a traditional game, with a few exceptions.
     Prep players shoot at an eight-foot basket, as opposed to the 10-foot basket used by JV and varsity, players can be called for four seconds in the lane rather than the three that traditional basketball allows, fouls can be called for players standing up in their chairs and players are only allowed to push off twice to gain momentum in their wheelchairs. They must then dribble or they will be called for travelling.
     Scott said the team runs established plays in practice, but when it comes time to take the court, plays can be a little more difficult to execute.
     "It just depends on usually who gets down (the court) first," he said.
     The Red Dawgs JV team plays games that are divided into two, 20-minute halves and Scott said the amount of time he spends playing depends on the competition.
     "If it's a hard (team) that's really good, I could play a whole game," he said. "If it's an easy team and we're up 30 points then I could sit out. It depends."
     Regardless of how much he plays, Theresa said he has a competitive spirit that emerges when he is on the court and he plays hard the whole time.
     And although Scott has won awards for his play with the Red Dawgs and the team itself finished second at its last tournament, both Scott and Theresa said that besting your competitor is not the ultimate goal of the game.
     "(It's) to have fun," Scott said.
     "Win or lose," Theresa added.
    Upcoming action
     The Red Dawgs will host conference competition at UNO on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 10 and 11. More than 15 teams will compete at the tournament to establish seeding for the national youth wheelchair basketball tournament to be held in Peoria, Ill., on Saturday and Sunday, March 10 and 11.