About Us
What we are ?
WCI is a nonprofit registered organization working under the legal frame of the country. WCIA is also 80G approved organization. It was established in the year 2016 with the objective of providing rehabilitation to persons using wheelchair through sport of cricket.
The organization aims to provide a platform to the people who are using wheelchair to live an equal and independent life as members of the community. We at WCI have achieved this target within very short period of time to provide the best sporting opportunities for our players and have organized some major domestic tournaments at national level with participation from players across the county.
The best part of WCI is that most of the members are not only disabled but also wheelchair users, which helps us to understand the needs of various kinds of wheelchair users and organize the events in best possible manner. Throughout its development the association has remained faithful to the principles which are equal right of PWDs to lead independent lives, free from discrimination.
What we do
Promote wheel chair cricket
motivate
& prepare players
taking wheel chair cricket global
Ex. Pilot, Indian Air Force
Founder – Wheelchair Cricket India
When Sqn Ldr Abhai Pratap Singh met with an accident in 2007 lot of people thought that it’s over for him. A qualified fighter pilot with Indian Air Force who loved to be in air was suddenly restricted to a Wheelchair.
2 years which he had to spend in various hospitals were enough to break strongest of souls. But he was made of different metal. He not only survived all the negative possibilities but emerged as winner. Instead of continuing with Air Force as ground Duty officer, he chose to take retirement and do something on his own. Within few years only, he established himself as a successful entrepreneur.
Wheelchair Cricket was started in Pakistan sometime in late 90s and picked up in early 21st century. Today Pakistan has an organization supported by Government which formally conducts the sport in Pakistan. In India also Wheelchair Cricket was being played around the country since many years but a formal team was conceptualized only in 2012. The idea to have a formal team originated in Delhi but soon died down as only other country which had a wheelchair cricket team was Pakistan. The deteriorating situation at border gave a serious blow to the idea of India vs Pakistan Wheelchair Cricket series.
Again in 2015, few young men from Delhi initiated the idea to form a wheelchair cricket team and approached with idea to few local social organizations in Delhi and around. At the same time Lucknow was also buzzing with the same idea. Finally with the help of some social organization engaged in disability rights a National tournament was conducted in Jun 2016 with 3 teams UP, Delhi & Punjab participating in the tournament
Historically, people with disabilities have been a socially and economically disadvantaged segment of society. Researchers even coined the term ‘‘Disability Ghetto’’ to describe this marginalization, manifested in discrimination and socio-cultural limitations, and further perpetuated by a lower rate of employment among individuals with disabilities. While employment on its own has its obvious advantages, financial and otherwise, interestingly, separate studies have found that both adaptive sport and employment have provided large quality of life benefits to people with disabilities. No rehabilitation is complete till a person is employed or is financially independent but it has been observed that participating in adaptive sports increase chances of employment due to various reasons. Studies have found a positive relationship between athletic participation and labour market outcomes for the able bodied population, and suggest many potential mechanisms whereby athletics lead to higher educational attainment, employment and/or wages. First, increased physical fitness levels could directly translate to increased productivity for those individuals. Second, sports provide social networking opportunities, especially for those with smaller social networks, such as people from rural background or tribal areas. Third, athletic participation may signal to employers that the individual is motivated and in good health, making them more appealing and competitive candidates in the job market. Similarly, Sport can benefit almost every aspect of the life of a person with a disability. The benefits include but are not limited to increased self-esteem, strength and endurance, social integration, physical independence and life satisfaction. Though adaptive sports has gained quite a momentum in developed nations, in developing nations like India barriers to playing adaptive sport can be daunting. Adaptive sport participation is limited by obstacles, such as a lack of accessibility in sport facilities, dislike of sports commonly associated with disability, physical dependence making practice difficult and limited time and money. The costs associated with adaptive sports include specialized wheelchairs and travel to compete against other teams. Athletes also incur at least some expenses out of pocket. Proper funding for adaptive sport programs could alleviate many of these barriers. Increased participation in adaptive sport would provide benefits at the individual level as well as the societal level. To give a sense of the potential aggregate economic impact of regular participation in adaptive sports, if an additional 100000 individuals were to play adaptive sports for only one year, we estimate that approximately 3000 of them would become employed.
Wheelchair Cricket India came into being after complaints from players of mismanagement and exploitation by the social organization on the behest of conducting matches. Players were asked to deposit funds before every match for conduct of matches. Some organizations took money but did not even conduct matches. As most of the players came from poor socio-economic background, they started resisting participating in wheelchair cricket and either dropped out or deviated towards other sports. While objective of sports is to increase the self confidence of individual so that he/she can face the hardships of life with ease, things were going in opposite direction here. It was must for some genuine people who actually understood the problems of wheelchair users to take the lead. So the players decided to form their own organization with few players themselves being part of organization along with other concerned people who were either parents of wheelchair users or genuine social workers working for wheelchair users or cricketers. Mr Sonu Gupta from Delhi, Mr Veer Singh Sandhu from Punjab, Mr Somjeet Singh From Uttar Pradesh, Mr Bheema Khunti From Gujrat, Mr Prithvi Singh from Rajasthan and Mr Sukhwant Singh from Haryana were few players who took the lead to form an association of themselves In July 2016, an exhibition match was conducted in Lucknow between UP & Delhi Teams under the banner of CII YI with support from corporate like Mahendra’s and Tata motors. As chief guest Padamshree and Parlympic silver medalist Mrs Deepa Malik was present to grace the occasion. This was the first proper showcasing of Wheelchair Cricket on National Level as few National Dailies covered the event. Uttar Pradesh Wheelchair Cricket Association came into being soon after under the leadership of Sqn Ldr Abhai Pratap Singh Retd.
There was no looking back there after. Tournaments in Lucknow, Jaipur, Delhi, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Chandigarh and Bangalore have been conducted since then. WCI today boasts support of twelve state organizations – Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujrat, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand & Karnataka which have proper team. In 2018, WCIA boasts of successfully organizing a National Championship in which 14 teams from all over India participated and was conducted at 5 different places in one time. Also it was one of the biggest wheelchair sport event ever conducted in world with more than 200 wheelchair sportsmen participating in it. Also in 2018 itself, WCIA successfully conducted a league tournament with four teams comprising of mixed players from all over India. In May 2018, WCIA operated Indian Team which was selected after a rigorous training camp and selection procedure visited Bangladesh for a three match series.Indian Wheelchair Cricket Team came back after the historical victory against Bangladesh in India-Bangladesh Wheelchair Cricket Series 2018 was held at Dhaka, in May 2018. Former Indian Captain Shri Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar supported the Indian team for this tour financially. MOS Sh. Kishan Pal Gurjar received the Indian team at IGI Airport. Winner team was also invited by Former President of India Sh. Pranab Mukherjee and Union Minister Sh. Thawarchand Gehlot, CM Delhi Sh. Arvind Kejriwal and Sh. Manoj Tiwari, Member of Parliament.
