CLEARFIELD — A Clearfield boy is gearing up to take on his opponents at the basketball hoop.
And with the help of the Clearfield Parks and Recreation Department, 11-year-old Spencer Heslop will soon be able to scrimmage at a local court with others like him who use wheelchairs.
Spencer, a sixth-grader born with spina bifida, is a three-year veteran of wheelchair basketball, which is being offered for the first time at the Clearfield Aquatic Center, 825 S. State St.
On top of creating a splash for area residents, the center is doubling as the new Wheelchair Jr. Jazz Basketball League arena.
"We just had some extra space and the opportunity to go out and help another part of our community (and) we normally didn't have the facility to do that," said Curtis Dickson, Clearfield City program supervisor.
Dickson said all of the city's Jr. Jazz games will be played at the new Aquatic Center.
"Now that we have the Aquatics Center, we don't have to rent out any gyms anymore, and that's a big savings for us," he said.
The Aquatic Center is adjacent to North Davis Junior High School, and during the day students use the gym and weight room for classes, and then before and after school, during the summer and on weekends, the city can use the facilities.
For the past three years Spencer has made the trip to Ogden for some court time. But he and his parents, Daron and Kerry Heslop, have been instrumental in moving the Ogden league to their hometown of Clearfield.
"I'm excited," Spencer said. "Then we won't have to travel as far."
The Wheelchair Jr. Jazz league is designed for children with disabilities who are independent in their wheelchair mobility. Able-bodied people can also play as long as they are in chairs once they hit the court.
The league games are held on Saturdays and feature one hour of practice and one hour of scrimmage.
"It will be the same as the Jr. Jazz basketball, but it will be wheelchair basketball," Kerry Heslop said.
Right now, Dickson said, the city is looking to hire referees for the wheelchair games. Until referees are hired, parents of the players officiate.
The rules for wheelchair basketball are basically the same as traditional basketball with one exception — the riders can double dribble. As a general rule, a player has to put the ball on the floor (dribble) at least one time in every three wheel chair advances (pushes.) But that rule is flexible and changes depending on the age and ability level of the players.
The players can also earn fouls and take shots from behind the free-throw line.
"They play just like the other Jr. Jazz players. They're scraping wheels, and some of them have fallen out (of their chairs,)" said Daron Heslop. Most of the players are strapped in with seat belts.
The Heslops said they would like to see the league grow, with additional cities joining in to offer a variety of wheelchair sports.
Dickson said the city is going to offer wheelchair basketball annually.
"It's something we'd like to start and continue to provide and even expand a little and see if we can get some other adaptive programs with some of the other sports we do during the year," Dickson said.
The Heslops searched for a long time before finding the Ogden league for Spencer to play in.
"We were trying to find something I could do to a point that I could be more competitive, because I couldn't move around as fast as others," Spencer said. "We looked for quite a while."
Daron Heslop said the Ogden wheelchair basketball league started in the late 1990s and many people were instrumental in its success. The players from that league will continue to play, but now will take the court in Clearfield.
Spencer has also played sledge hockey and tennis, but basketball is his favorite. His mom said he loves the wheelchair adaptation.
"It puts him at the same level as other kids," she said. Not only are the youths learning to play basketball through the wheelchair league, they are gaining social skills and honing upper-body strength, said Kerry Heslop.
"It took a little bit of of encouraging to get him out," she said. "Once he got out there, there was no (turning back). He loved it."
E-mail: nclemens@desnews.com