About Us
Hampshire Harriers Wheelchair Basketball Inclusive Sports Club inspires confidence, life skills and purpose
We are a well-run, fully constituted charity founded in the 1980s. The Club’s home court base is Applemore Health & Leisure, Southampton – with the team meeting twice weekly, on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings.
Harriers is a sports club which caters for all types of disabilities from people born with physical difference to those acquiring disability through injury or accident.
Club members range from 14-70+ years of age, and are trained by highly experienced Coaching staff.
The Club fields two competitive teams who compete regionally and nationally in the British Wheelchair Basketball League – as well as hosting a summer tournament and friendly games organised outside the national league timetable.
As well as offering competitive sport opportunities, the Club also runs High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) during some of the sessions, targeting strengthening and stamina building exercises to build fitness, speed and chair agility – enabling all players to achieve fitness goals relevant to them, promoting both physical and mental wellbeing.
Harriers regularly has 20 people training and playing alongside their disabled and able-bodied friends and family every week – but Harriers is more than just a sports club. It burns with a passion to motivate, challenge and inspire physically disabled players, who are often marginalised within the wider community, to be the best they can be – whether that’s being able to play a fast, team-based and at times,fiercely competitive sport or simply provide a space where players can kick-back and be themselves, forget their worries and forge lasting friendships. The Club’s wider network of parents, carers and friends with lived experience also provides an informal peer support group, tackling social isolation and normalising life with difference.
The Club deliberately keeps playing fees low to maximise the accessibility of this amazing sport. Players pay just £35 per month for 8-10 training sessions per month – with the balance of funds coming from community fundraising and business donations.
The first two sessions are free, and we can provide a sports wheelchair and team players kit.
Our Mission
At HampshireHarriers, our mission is to promote wheelchair basketball and provide opportunities for athletes with disabilities to participate in the sport. We believe that basketball is for everyone, and we are committed to breaking down barriers and creating a welcoming and supportive community. Through our team's hard work and dedication, we hope to inspire others to get involved in wheelchair basketball and experience the thrill of the game.
