“Wheelchair Basketball is more spectacular than any other sport in Morocco” said Président of the Fédération Royale Marocaine des Sports pour Personnes Handicapées, Hamid Elanoui.
From year to year it is attracting more and more people to watch how professionally the disabled players are practising. There are also more and more people who want to play wheelchair basketball in Morocco. Currently there are 143 players are practising the sport in twelve different organisations throughout the country.
Although at the moment there is no dedicated junior programme, the junior players are able to play practicing within their clubs or associations.
At the beginning of each new sport season, there is a technical meeting. The representatives of the wheelchair basketball organisations across Morocco take part in this meeting with the representatives of the Royal Moroccan Federation of Sports for Disabled, to lay out the IWBF rules.
‘”Wheelchair Basketball in Morocco has changed remarkably in the last years,” explains Hamid Elanoui, who is also President for the IWBF Africa Zone. “Due to the significant increasing number of players who practice wheelchair basketball each year both male and female players.”
Morocco also takes part in a number of international competitions. In November last year (2015) Morocco finished second just behind Algeria in the African Championship which took place in Algeria.
Since 2013, the Royal Moroccan Federation of Sports for Disabled organises an International Tournament of Wheelchair Basketball, where the best African national wheelchair basketball teams participate.
While organising the international competitions, The Royal Moroccan Federation of Sports for Disabled is supported by several sponsors as well as being supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
Furthermore the Royal Moroccan Federation of Sports for Disabled provides training sessions for referees, classifiers and coaches, which are a great opportunity for trainees to develop their knowledge.
In the future the Moroccan Federation hopes that the sports wheelchair becomes less expensive to make it possible for even more people in their country to play wheelchair basketball.
For further information about wheelchair basketball in Morocco or how you can get involved visit the Royal Moroccan Federation of Sports for Disabled website https://www.marochandisport.ma/ or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/F%C3%A9d%C3%A9ration-Handisport-Marocain-1421396154779614/
