Paul Hudson, vice chairman of the Wheelchair Basketball Association and Wayne Coyle, head of sport and director of Olympic and Paralympic Strategy are to travel to Amsterdam for the two-day congress.

 

The prime objectives of the visit will be to raise the profile of Sheffield’s sports facilities, disabled provision in the city and to establish further links with international federations with a view to them visiting the city for future training camps and as a base for competitions.

 

The top 12 men’s teams and eight women’s teams from countries including Australia, Canada, USA, Brazil, South Africa and Japan are attending the congress which combines the 2006 Gold Cup event from July 3-16.

 

"We will be raising the profile of Sheffield as a world class destination for major wheelchair basketball events and as a base for training and holding camps as well as observing the requirements and expectations of hosting major sporting events," said Wayne Coyle, a member of the Sheffield 2012 Steering Group.

 

"The announcement earlier this month that the Saudi Arabian wheelchair basketball team is coming to use Sheffield as a training camp was a huge boost for the city and we hope that others will be inspired to visit the city and use the fantastic facilities we have here."

 

Hudson, who is team coach of the Sheffield Steelers Wheelchair Basketball Club, added: “The aim of our visit is to increase links with international federations plus raise awareness to teams about using Sheffield for their preparations for international tournaments and the Paralympics plus the staging of major wheelchair basketball events.”

 

 

The Saudi Arabia wheelchair team will train at Sheffield’s English Institute of Sport in late August preparation for the Gulf Games in the Autumn.