Seattle Junior Sonics wheelchair basketball team headed to nationals

SEATTLE - The Seattle Junior Sonics varsity wheelchair basketball team has earned a trip to nationals in Louisiana, with their first games starting March 20.

"This game will change your life. It will turn you into the best version of yourself," said Graham Thomson, who plays for the team. "Into a person that the world isn’t ready for."

FOX 13 caught up with the team to get to know them better, and hear about their dream off the court.

"I'm a more confident person. I have made friends I never would have if I didn't start playing this sport," Thomson said. "It has given me purpose and made me feel better about myself and given me something to wake up and work for every day, which is something that I think we all need."

For Thomson and the Junior Sonics, years of hard work went into this.

"It’s the dream, man. It’s what I’ve been working at every day since I first got in a chair in October of 8th grade," Thomson said. "When I found out last week there were definitely some tears. I’m so excited, it’s the first time with this whole group of varsity players so I'm really excited for them."

"It’s been a long-time dream for this group of kids," said Jess Thomson, co-manager for the Seattle Junior Sonics. "COVID really interrupted our program a lot, we have really been building back since then. It has been about a decade since we’ve had a team qualify for nationals."

Their style of play can take you by surprise. It's physical and loud.

"You’ll see people flipping over out of their chairs all the time, which I know throws people off-guard but it’s so normal in wheelchair basketball. I feel like there's more talking in wheelchair basketball, a lot more noisy, chairs clashing everywhere," said Serena, playing for the Seattle Junior Sonics.

"All you have to do is push the wheels like a normal wheelchair but it takes a little getting used to and the first time you might get a little tired. Like the first time I came back from practice and just fell onto my couch and was like, ‘I’m so tired,'" said Jamie Fulmer, also on the Junior Sonics.

Jess Thomson said everybody should have access to sport, to competition.

Seattle Adaptive Sports, a nonprofit supporting the Junior Sonics, provides the invaluable option to be part of the team.

"When you're a parent part of this community, we’re all fighting the same battle trying to find opportunities for our kids to get out and prosper and grow. Yeah, it’s a good community," said Michael Phillips, a parent.

"I think almost half of my friends are from basketball…not all from my team, different teams across the country, we all have basketball in common," Serena said.

"The world has a fixed narrative for what people with disabilities are supposed to be," Graham Thomson said. "Too often you’re defined by what you can’t do. And ever since playing wheelchair basketball, I’ve been defined by what I can do."

The National Junior Championships run from March 20–22 in West Monroe, Louisiana.

If you'd like to support the team, you can do so through their GoFundMe.

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