27-05-2025
Wheelchair basketballers bolster domestic competition to support Gliders' bid for Brisbane 2032 Paralympics
Three-time Paralympic medallist Shelley Matheson found herself feeling adrift after the Gliders missed out on Rio 2016 by a single qualifying spot.
"I was honestly just devastated … I felt lost, really lost. I didn't know where to from there because the Paralympics my whole career had been a given," Matheson told ABC Sport.
"[Going in to qualifications] I literally was thinking about 'what medal am I going to get?' Not 'are we going to go or not?'"
Then, eight years later, the Gliders fell to Japan in the 2024 IWBF women's repechage in Osaka in what was their last hopes for qualification for the Paris Games.
"That was a big wake up call," Matheson said.
"It's really hard to go to the Paralympics."
It was a far cry from where Australian women's wheelchair basketball was used to being on the world stage.
Since their debut at the Games in 1992, the Australian women's national wheelchair basketball made themselves known as one of the teams to beat after claiming four Paralympic medals.
Matheson was involved in three of those podiums, with two silver medals and one bronze.
Yet, having to watch the Rio and Paris Games from home, Matheson knew that wheelchair basketball in Australia had a need for a stronger domestic competition.
Without a better high-performance pathway, the Gilders were no guarantee to make the Brisbane 2032 Games.
With no Victorian state team in the Women's National Wheelchair Basketball League (WNWBL), Matheson was forced to travel interstate to compete with the Sydney side last year.
A couple of other Victorian Gliders played in the Brisbane side.
"You do all your training on your own. You literally just fly in for games. So yeah, it's tough," Matheson said.
"We just didn't think that was good enough, that there wasn't any program in Victoria. So, we've been working for probably the last 10 months just to make sure that something comes together in Vic."
Matheson, along with teammate Leanne Del Toso, spearheaded the introduction of Victoria's first state team since 2019 in the domestic competition, the Wonders.
Along with the Gold Coast Rollers and Adelaide Thunder, they will join the WNWBL this year, with the season kicking off this Friday, May 30.
"For years we had the talent in Victoria but no team," said Matheson.
"Now we've had over 30 women put their hand up, held our first-ever try-outs, and selected 16 for the squad."
In Adelaide, Gliders squad member Lucinda Bueti was instrumental in forming the Thunder.
"This is my full-time gig now — I coach, run programs, and train six days a week because I've seen how life-changing this sport can be," Bueti said.
"Having a women's team in Adelaide for the first time means young girls finally have something to aim for — in their own state. It's about pride, visibility, and building a future right here at home."
