It took a lot of practice before 18-year-old Jose Leep could master a sport that combines fast chases, quick turns on wheels, accurate aim and a powerful grip to stop a speeding wheelchair.
“I’ve been playing for about eight years,” said Leep, who has gained arm and upper-body strength from playing wheelchair basketball since he was 10 years old. It was then that he lost both his legs in an avalanche near his home in Colombia. The accident killed his parents and eight brothers and sisters.
Leep, who now lives in Schererville, recently raced around the gym at Queen of Martyrs Catholic School in Evergreen Park, where hiswheelchair basketball team, Hearts in Motion, played against 6, 7th and 8th graders.
The team is named after a Merrillville charity that links U.S. medical aid with children from poor countries. Two years ago, group founder, Karen Scheeringa and 34-year-old Alex Parra, originally from Colombia and now of Griffith, Ind., started the basketball program.
“I never played basketball before this,” said Parra, who lost one leg to cancer 17 years ago. What looked easy for the Hearts in Motion team, ended up being a bit more difficult for the pupils.
“It was very fun, but very hard to dribble and keep moving,” said Katie Mizera, a 7th grader from Chicago.
Twelve-year-old Jenny Tomasek’s wheelchair tipped backward when she sideswiped another player’s wheel. She was fine and continued to play. “Shooting is hard. I don’t have enough arm strength to get the ball up there,” said the 6th grader from Chicago.
The Hearts in Motion team chose to play for the south suburban school because its pupils have been one of the charity’s most supportive schools, said Scheeringa. Recently the pupils collected 1,000 pairs of shoes for the group to send to needy children, and they have also conducted other fundraisers, she said.
For information on Hearts in Motion, call 219-738-2336.