Watch: Center Twisters Wheelchair Basketball Team Heads To The National Finals In Wichita

A Tulsa Wheelchair Basketball team is headed to Nationals for the first time.

The Center for Individuals with Physical Challenges organizes the team.

"This team's hard work is paying off with weekly practices and games across the country, this weekend, they'll take their talents to the national level,” said Adaptive Sports Coordinator at the Center and Twisters Assistant Coach Anthony Meadows.

The Twisters are going to Wichita, Kansas for the National Wheelchair Basketball Association championship. Meadows says their first game is on Friday against the third-ranked team in the nation. He says even as a new group, this team immediately hit it off.            

"The first thing about adaptive sports is just having the will. Or a lot of people, a lack of knowledge of knowing that this is something they can do or compete in,” Meadows said.

Meadows became paralyzed from a spinal cord injury at 19 years old. Now, he's been playing wheelchair basketball for three decades.       

"I found my community of disabled individuals or disabled athletes and we kind of gel together. And that just kind of brought me out of my shell when I thought the world was over at age 19 being paralyzed, it just gave me a new lease on life to discover a community being a disabled athlete,” Meadows said.

The chairs the players use for basketball are built with camber, meaning they’re tilted to maintain balance and spin faster. There are also click straps to keep them secured. Meadows says it's encouraging to watch the team come together and work hard.

"And then some people, just to see them go from zero to where they're at now, is awesome and it's a blessing all at the same time,” Meadows said.