VERONA, Wis. — Dozens of young athletes made their way to Wisconsin over the weekend for the Mad City Invitational Wheelchair Basketball Tournament.

What You Need To Know

  • This is the second year for the Mad City Invitational Wheelchair Basketball tournament

  • Eight teams from across the Midwest competed

  • The tournament was sanctioned by the National Wheelchair Basketball Association

  • Two teams will receive bids for the national competition

They came from all over the Midwest to play.

For senior Dodge Shore, who is a member of Madison’s Mad City Badgers, it was bittersweet.

“It’s sad because it’s my last home tournament at Mad City, so I’m just trying to go out and play hard and hopefully win it,” he said on Saturday.

Shore said he was happy he got to play in a tournament relatively close to his home in Hillsboro. He often has to travel far for games.

“I know I don’t like traveling that far, especially when we have to go to nationals in Richmond, Virginia,” he said.

That’s why Dairyland Sports partnered with the Mad City Badgers to host this tournament for the first time last year.

“A lot of these athletes from around our Madison area have to travel an hour or two to practice, let alone now for events they have to travel to Minnesota or Chicago,” said Deb Jenks, executive director of the event and vice president of Dairyland Sports.

Two teams from the tournament will advance to the national competition hosted by the National Wheelchair Basketball Association.

Mad City Badgers head coach Amy Spangler said it’s a way for her players to connect with others from across the country.

“When we get together at tournaments, they always see athletes that they’ve gone to camp with, and played against over the past few years,” she said. “They’re friends, they get to hang out with friends from other states and other teams.”

It’s also a chance to show athletes, and the public, just how far wheelchair basketball can take them.

John Boie was one of the referees for the tournament. He’s also a Paralympic gold medalist and member of the USA Paralympic Wheelchair Basketball team, which just qualified for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.

He’s from Milton and got his start with the Mad City Badgers.

“For someone like me to kind of pass on some of the knowledge, those tips, it’s something that I really… I’m blessed to have the opportunity to do.”

The hope is that this tournament brings more awareness to the opportunities available to athletes with disabilities.

“It’s important because it shows people that don’t know the sport what it’s like and that there’s something out there that people in wheelchairs can do,” Shore said.

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