Westwood student shares unforgettable experience

CHENEY-Caitlin Shaffer, an 8th-grade para-athlete at Westwood Middle School, had an experience of a lifetime playing in the Women's Nationals Wheel chair Basketball Tournament in Akron, Ohio, in late April.

"We played five games against paraolympians. One of our teammates tried out for the team earlier this year-she didn't make it but she's going to tryout again next year," Caitlin said. "We were there for two days. It was really special for me. I learned new ways to play (basketball)."

Caitlin plays for ParaSport Spokane.

"I'm the youngest player on the women's' team," Caitlin said. "The ladies teach me so many different skills and they keep me positive during the game when I get frustrated."

Caitlin has been playing wheelchair basketball and track for 10 years.

"After getting information from a PT (physical therapist) at school, I got interested in basketball and I've been playing ever since," Caitlin said. "It was fun watching people like me play the sport. I didn't know I could do something like that until Tomie (Zuchetto, head basketball coach), Teresa (Skinner, executive director) and David (Greig, development director) taught me how to do it. ParaSport is like a second family to me."

Caitlin said she enjoys working with Tomie, who has been her basketball coach for the past nine years.

"She's awesome. She's my role model-she's like my second mom," Caitlin said. "She's always been there for me through thick and thin-she's awesome."

Tomie has been coaching wheelchair basketball for 22 years. She and Skinner broke away from another group in Spokane eight years ago and started ParaSport.

Tomie said everyone had a blast in Akron.

"We had a good trip back to Ohio-took 10 women- it was a big team for us to travel with," Tomie said. "There were a total of eight teams for around the country that came to play. We weren't in it for wins and losses-every team but ours had paraolympians on it, so it was a very high level of play."

Tomie said they have players on their team who are very competitive and some who are very developmental, which she believes is a good mix.

"The last night we were there (at the tournament), we did something called pay it forward. Each athlete on the team has to pick another athlete on the team and pay them a complement on how they played during the game," Tomie said. "Then that person picks someone else to complement. By the time we were done, all 10 ladies got to hear from their teammates how well they did. It really promotes cohesiveness with the team-makes them aware of the things they are doing right and not just watching the scoreboard."

Tomie plans for the team to participate in the event again next year.

"We are, but it will depend on how many ladies we have in our program we can talk into playing at that level," she said. "There's something magical when the women all come together to play. When they play on a mixed team (men and women), the guys often take over and the girls get left behind. They (the guys) forget how beneficial the girls can be because they are willing to set the picks.

"But when its all women on the floor they all work together and play hard- Caitlin plays very hard."

Caitlin said her experience with ParaSport has been invaluable.

"There's so many new skills you learn that help with so many different things," Caitlin said. "Social skills-independence-just everything honestly-much more than just basketball."

Caitlin will be a freshman at Cheney High School this fall.