Great Britain’s Terry Bywater has been appointed to represent the European Zone on the IWBF Athlete Steering Committee, following the departure of Netherlands’ Carina De Rooij who stood down due to personal commitments and time constraints.
Speaking about his appointment to the Athlete Steering Committee, Terry said:
"I'm very happy to have been chosen for this role and excited to be part of the Committee to help shape how the athletes voice is heard within IWBF and its organisation in the future."
Terry made his senior debut for Great Britain at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games when he was just 17 years old, since then he has gone on to compete at 20 major international championships, and assisted GB to 14 senior international medals. His latest achievement was being crowned Champions at the 2018 World Championships in Hamburg, Germany.
Terry believes this experience will be valuable in this role:
“With over 20 years of experience playing wheelchair basketball at the highest level and playing in 20 major championships, I know exactly how an athlete thinks and what an athlete needs.
“I’m very passionate about the sport that I love and have dedicated my life to. I feel that I have the qualities to be on the Athlete Steering Committee and to help IWBF as much as I can moving forward."
Terry, who currently plays his club basketball in Spain for CD Ilunion and is a popular and well-known figure within the sport, added:
“I feel it's very important to have athlete representation within IWBF to help make the correct decisions to not only shape the sport for the here and now but also for the future.
“The future of our wonderful sport is down to the athletes and we need to make sure we keep improving on all levels making the future of wheelchair basketball even better than what it is now with lots of great competitions across the globe.”
The Athlete Steering Committee would like to welcome Terry to the fold and like to thank Carina for her efforts so far in the process of creating the new IWBF Players’ Commission.
The IWBF Athlete Steering Committee was set-up to support IWBF in establishing and institutionalising a common voice for IWBF athletes in the governance of the sport with the establishment of an IWBF Players’ Commission. The group have been actively preparing, discussing a number of topics such as how to establish and elect a future Players’ Commission, how the Commission shall be composed, and what duties they shall carry out.
The Steering Committee have invited all international wheelchair basketball players to have their say in shaping the future commission. Find out how you can have your say here.
Photo credit: British Wheelchair Basketball.