GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Athletes at Mary Free Bed in Grand Rapids are gearing up for the upcoming wheelchair basketball season, with players of all ages preparing to hit the court.
WATCH: Wheelchair basketball athletes prepare for upcoming season
For athlete Grayson Gibbs, the sport took some warming up — but it didn't take long to win him over.
"At first, my parents just made me kept trying it, and then I started to realize that I actually enjoyed a lot," Gibbs said.
Now, Gibbs has his sights set on the future.
"I hope that I get to play in college. And then for this year, I just hope that I can improve, help my team as best that I can," Gibbs said.
Fellow athlete David Hynen said he found his passion for the sport at age 17 — and never looked back.
"I never thought I would never play sports at all," Hynen said. "I think the thing that stood out for me was just meeting all the people who kind of share the same story as me, same position as me, and being able to just play, hang out with them," Hynen said.
Hynen now plays on the Mary Free Bed D-1 Pacers team. This year, he has taken on an additional role as coach of the Junior Pacers Prep team — a new challenge he said is driven by his love of the game.
"The reason why I wanted to coach was, again, my passion for the sport, and I wanted to share my passion to the younger kids and help develop them to become a great athlete. And hopefully they will feel the same way when they play the sport," Hynen said.
Click here to learn more about adaptive sports offered at Mary Free Bed.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
