Brilliant IZB: Inclusive Zone Basketball

Great Marlow School was invited to attend an Inclusive Zone Basketball tournament on Tuesday 20th March. This unique sport is played on courts split into zones, which enables wheelchair basketball players and basketball players to play together in a squad.

The tournament took place at the University of Brighton and teams from secondary schools in the South East region were invited to participate in the event.

This was a great opportunity for GMS students to participate in a new sport, organised by Youth Sport Direct and to represent Great Marlow School.

The school team played four games. Each game was played by a squad of four players, with two wheelchair users in the central zone of the court and one non-wheelchair user on each wing. The players were rotated in each game, as there was a team of 11 taken to the tournament.

The GMS team played brilliantly. They were the least experienced team in this sport, having never played IZB before. They soon mastered the rules, though, and proved to be a real challenge to the opposing squads. GMS were also the youngest team there, comprising of eight Year 7s, two Year 8s and one Year 9 student. The other schools had squads with students up to 17 years old playing for them.

We lost two of our games and won the other two. A fantastic result and all students involved in the tournament showed great team spirit and sportsmanship throughout the tournament. Well done to all involved!

Miss H Murray