Spinners wheelchair basketball program in Murgon scouts next generation of Paralympians

As the countdown to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics ignites the dreams of Australia's young sportspeople, a wheelchair basketball program in country Queensland is training the next Paralympic superstars. 

The Suncoast Spinners social wheelchair sports club started on the Sunshine Coast and expanded to Murgon, in the South Burnett, one year ago.

Eight-year-old Isabella Pointing regularly counts down the sleeps until the Spinners' next come-and-try day at the Murgon Police Citizens Youth Club (PCYC).

«We get ready to play wheelchair basketball. It's so fun,» Bella, who has spina bifida, said. 

«I feel shy because there's new people here, but I always get used to it.»

Her mum, Crystal Olds, said wheelchair basketball had been a game changer for her daughter.

Ms Olds and her own mother Sandra Kent began volunteering for the Spinners to bring the sport to Murgon every second Saturday. 

As a disability support worker, Ms Olds said the best part about the wheelchair basketball program was its «reverse inclusivity». 

«A lot of the time we will have people who don't have a disability want to come and try,» she said.

«It is very important, the kids who are in wheelchairs are often quite shy and don't get out in the community, so it's about bringing everybody together.

»Bella loves watching everybody and seeing that able-bodied people can get in wheelchairs, and also meeting friends who are in wheelchairs."

Like any sport, players at the Murgon PCYC must master the basics before getting on the court for a match. 

«Right now, we're working on improving our passing and defensive positioning,» Spinner coach Michael Oxley said.

«What we're looking for is people learning to go to space on offence, and when they're defending, looking to take that space