GAZA, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Sitting on her wheelchair, Suha Meqat from Gaza City enjoys playing basketball with her teammates in Gaza's first wheelchair basketball team for women.
"I'm extremely happy to have the chance to join the first Palestinian women's wheelchair basketball team," the 22-year-old Palestinian told Xinhua as she warmed up before an exercise.
Gaza already has around eight men's wheelchair basketball teams, which compete in local championships overseen by the Paralympic Committee.
The young woman, who suffers from a birth disability that caused her a leg paralysis, started practising many kinds of sports in 2013.
She admired the initiative of the Palestine Knights Club, the first club of its kind in Palestine which is supported and financed by the Palestinian Ministry of Youth and Sports, to create a wheelchair basketball team for women with disabilities.
Sawsan al-Khalili, president of the club, said the club sends a message that society should respect the rights of women with special needs and not deprive them of right to exercise or practise sports.
"The club embraces some 120 disabled women who practise various kinds of sports such as basketball, tennis, volleyball and athletics," al-Khalili said, noting that the club highlights the talents of women with disabilities in preparation for their integration into society.
When she decided to be a sportswoman, Meqat was challenged by her father to practise sports, but she managed to convince him to pursuit her dream.
"I have a strong will to move on to achieve all my goals and dreams," she said while passing the ball during a training session.
Wheelchair basketball retains most major rules of the sport, including a 10-foot basketball hoop and a standard basketball court. But there are also some exceptions after due consideration to players in wheelchair.
The sport sees tremendous competition and interest at the international level and is included in the Paralympic Games.
Enas Akkad, a 27-year-old graduate with a Bachelor of Sports Education, is working as a coach for the team, which started with only four players before it expanded.
Akkad told Xinhua that the team members are playing basketball to entertain themselves and try to prove that they are able to lead a normal life like other people.
She explained that most of the members suffer from congenital disabilities in legs or hands, adding that their ages range between 19 and 40.
The 12 team members meet once a week for three hours, taking warm-up trainings and fitness exercises, and then playing a match between the teammates.
Rawia Ayyad, 41, another team member, moved smoothly using her wheelchair to take possession of the ball from her opponent during a training game.
Holding a university degree in social work, Ayyad is also an excellent embroidery and sewing worker.
"I can be trained well here to develop my skills," said Ayyad, also the vice president of the club.
Almost 50,000 Palestinians are classified as "disabled" among the 2-million population of the blockaded Gaza Strip.
The number is increasing with more people injured and disabled as a result of Israel's frequent military attacks on the coastal enclave.
