City to host wheelchair hoops tourney

BY ANTHONY TETRO AND PETE DAVIS

Wednesday, October 8, 2008 2:39 PM EDT

Top wheelchair basketball teams from around the country and even the world will come to the Bronx to compete in the Mayor’s Cup Wheelchair Basketball Tournament.

The tournament, which is being presented by Forest City Ratner, will take place at Manhattan College and Horace Mann High School in the Bronx with festivities and games taking place on Friday, October 10 through the championship games on Sunday, October 12. Free to the public, the event is a presentation of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association.

“It is one of the best wheelchair basketball tournaments on the East Coast,” said Middle Village resident John Hamre, 40, who has been coaching the New York Nets team for the past 10 years.

This year, the Mayor’s Cup Tournament has 10 Division III teams participating, including Hamre’s New York Nets. Hamre said that most of his players reside in the New York City area with many of them living in Queens, the Bronx and Long Island.

Jackson Heights resident Ricardo Corral, 48, has been in a wheelchair for 26 years, but he will make his Mayor’s Cup debut this weekend after he joined the New York Nets last year.

“It’s a good team, and you make a lot of friends there,” said Corral, who said in addition to having fun at practice and games, the players teach each other things and learn a lot from each other.

This year’s tournament will kick off on October 10, with games taking place from beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Manhattan College’s Draddy Gymnasium and then at 9 p.m., there will be a team and media welcome dinner. The next day, games begin at the Horace Mann High School and the Draddy Gymnasium and run simultaneously until 1 p.m. After 1 p.m., the games will only take place at Draddy.

After the round robin play on Friday and Saturday, teams will return to Draddy on Sunday for semifinal and championship games that tip-off at 9.a.m. with the last championship game scheduled for noon.

The New York City Sports Commission (NYCSC) created the basketball tournament in 2001 to increase adaptive sports in the city. The same commission also sponsors Mayor’s Cup tournaments in field hockey, billiards, handball, baseball, softball, lacrosse, tennis, kayaking, track & field, cross country, chess, table tennis and wrestling.

For more information about this event, please contact Jeff Mohl at the NYCSC at 212-487-6627 or visit www.nyc.gov/sports.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JEFF MOHL
Players from all across the country, including a number from Queens, will participate in this year’s Mayor’s Cup Wheelchair Basketball Tournament.