Para basketball champion Geeta Chouhan hones mentoring, funding skills in USA

Together for sport, Geeta Chouhan, with both flags. Pics/SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

It has been a terrific journey from ‘Andheri to America' for wheelchair basketball champ Mumbai's Geeta Chouhan, who was chosen for the Global Sports Mentoring Program (GSMP) in the USA. This para athlete, who is the captain of the Indian Wheelchair women's basketball team, is in the midst of the one-month GSMP program conducted under the U.S. Department of Sports Diplomacy, fully sponsored by the U.S. Government.

Said Chouhan in an email interaction from the USA about her selection, "After COVID-19 lockdown, Wheelchair Basketball Federation of India (WBFI) had a fund crunch for the national tournament, so I arranged Rs 15 lakh. I also arranged kits for the women's team for two consecutive years and supported travel. I helped arrange advanced prosthetics through sponsorships, costing Rs 5-8 lakh each. This, and more of my work, pushed the Federation to recommend my name, and after due process, I was selected." Chouhan has finished the first week in Texas and is now in Washington, DC, for the remainder of the programme. She said, "I am learning about sports mentorship programs, especially how to approach funding and sponsorship in sport, with my guide Peter Hughes."

Where there are wheels, there is a way for Geeta

As player

>> Geeta Chouhan plays as a fast-break player and shooter
>> Led the Indian women's wheelchair basketball team in the Paris 2024 Para Olympics Qualification tourneys

India vs USA

Chouhan said, "For the past two years, the Mumbai wheelchair basketball women's team has not had a ground. We were told our wheelchairs damaged an indoor court even though our sports wheelchairs are specially designed for indoor courts and cost around R8 lakh each. In spite of winning the National gold medal for eight consecutive years (men's team) and five consecutive years (women's team), our issue is still being ignored."

The USA way

>> Strong government support for para athletes - no lack of grounds/courts.
>> Chouhan's trip funded by Global Sports Mentoring Program (GSMP), US Department of State (Sports Diplomacy program)
>> Para part of society and system with schoolchildren learning about wheelchair use, para sports and inclusion.

India initiative

>> Started the Wheelchair Champion Sports Foundation. Supports para-athletes with sports equipment, wheelchairs and travel assistance.
>> Aims to provide advanced prosthetics, callipers, wheelchairs.
>> Work towards helping them with education, job opportunities and self-employment.