Houston County High grows, maintains wheelchair basketball dynasty

Wheelchair basketball was first sanctioned in 2004. The Macon Bears won the first two titles, and the Atlanta Wolfpack won five titles (2006, 2008-11). Since then, the Sharks have been the dominant team. They have become an annual fixture in the championship game.

Houston County has won 11 of the past 12 titles. Gwinnett County was the outlier in 2021, but Houston County has won the past three in a row. Last year the Sharks defeated the Clayton County Eagles 35-16 in the finale.

Credit: Photo courtesy Stephen Roberson

Credit: Photo courtesy Stephen Roberson

It didn’t start that way. The Sharks had only six players when the team was formed in 2007. Today there are 25 players, enough to have a varsity and junior varsity team. More than 250 players have been through the program since its inception.

Roberson didn’t start on a mission to coach adaptive sports. He began as a coach in Clarke County and a year later moved to Houston County as an adaptive PE specialist.

“I didn’t have a clue about adaptive sports when I started in education back in 2010,” Roberson said. “It’s funny how it all works out. That first year they asked if I wanted to do adaptive sports and I said, ‘Sure, let’s try it out.’ I just fell in love with it and have been doing it ever since.”

That was 15 years ago, and Roberson can’t imagine doing anything else, even if that includes driving from Warner Robins to Snellville to pick up a wheelchair in the middle of the week.

The term “wheelchair” basketball is misleading because not every player on the team is confined to a wheelchair. There are 40 different disabilities that make players eligible to compete — either sensory, modular or skeletal. Roberson helps identify the players who are eligible to compete.

“Over the years we’ve got lot of different things to recruit,” Roberson said. “We work with our own med techs around the schools to see who could qualify. A lot of times we’ll have teachers reach out to us, coaches reach to us. This is just the rapport that we’ve build over the years. Someone will call and say, ‘Hey, we’ve got a kid you might want to take a look at.’”

Credit: Photo courtesy Stephen Roberson

Credit: Photo courtesy Stephen Roberson

The coaching staff will assess the skill level of the players — the sport is coed, with boys and girls both competing on the team. The more experienced ones compete on the varsity team, while the newcomers will spend time on the JV until they understand the fundamentals and how to compete in the specially made wheelchairs.

“There are a lot of factors — have they ever played any team sports, do they know anything about basketball — and we’ll decide where they’re at,” Roberson said.

Credit: Photo courtesy Stephen Roberson

Credit: Photo courtesy Stephen Roberson

This year’s team looks strong again. If the Sharks emerge from the coming semifinals weekend, they’ll be back in their happy place.

“I’m excited to see what these new faces will do on the big stage, if we can make it that far,” Roberson said.

The team’s top returning player is Anthony Cuti, who scored a game-high 16 points in last year’s championship game.

“He’s a big-time scorer,” Roberson said. “He loves basketball. He’s been looking forward to it since last year’s championship game.”

Brothers Caden and Caleb Nelson also bring loads of varsity experience. Twins Madison and Champ Ryan moved from the JV team and have become big contributors, as has newcomer Asher Hayes.

“We’ve won a lot of championships, and those are all important to me personally,” Roberson said. “But the best thing for me personally is to see the growth. My heart is really with the JV team because you see that growth through the years. To be able to see a young athlete come in, not really having much experience being part of a team, and then by the end of the season to see them grow is really special. That’s just so rewarding.”