Player's Guide to Wheelchair Basketball Canada Classes and Chairs 2024

Under Wheelchair Basketball Canada's Classification Procedures (revised December 2019):

• New players are classified at an event where the WBC Classification Director has approved a Tournament Player Classification Panel of at least 3 certified classifiers.
• Your team lists new players on its roster with name, date of birth, gender and a proposed class.
• You meet the panel at the team practice before competition, or before your first game warm-up if there is no practice. Wear your team jersey number. You complete a WBC registration form, have your photo taken and confirm your proposed class. Classifiers assess players on the court and in their own playing chair.
• You get a temporary card, and the panel keeps observing you during the tournament. Your class can be confirmed or changed at the end of any preliminary game or at the end of the tournament, and the team is given an explanation.
• A permanent classification card is issued at the end of the tournament. Players who have not played enough for a decision are not given an official classification.
• Teams get updated rosters each day of the preliminary rounds and a playoff roster at the end of them. There are no changes in classification during the playoffs.

Source: WBC Classification Procedures, December 2019.

Yes. Wheelchair Basketball Canada's Classification Procedures (revised December 2019) allow reviews at tournaments with a classification panel:

• Your own player: the team submits an application form to the Head of the Tournament Classification Panel by the coaches meeting at the latest, with a $50.00 fee payable to Wheelchair Basketball Canada. The fee is reimbursed if the request is successful, and does not apply if a significant change in medical condition leads to the request. The player starts the tournament with their previous class, is observed, and may be confirmed or changed at the end of any preliminary round game or at the end of the tournament.
• Another team's player: a team can apply at any time during the competition with a non-refundable $50.00 fee. The other team is told and given a copy of the form. If the player does not play enough for a decision, the fee is returned and the original class stands.
• Review of a tournament decision: only possible if six classifiers are present (enough for two independent panels), with a $50.00 fee reimbursed if successful. A neutral panel does the observation.
• IWBF classification: a review is only accepted if the player's function is significantly different from when they were classified internationally, and the new class is valid only within Canada.
• Players with progressive conditions are reviewed at every tournament that has a classification panel.
• There are no classification changes during the playoffs.

Source: WBC Classification Procedures, December 2019, the edition published on wheelchairbasketball.ca/classifiers.

Each player's class number (1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and so on up to 4.5) is their point value. Under the 2024 IWBF rules, at no time in a game may a team have players participating whose total point value is more than 14.

• If a team exceeds the limit at any time, a technical foul is charged to the coach and the line-up must be corrected at the same time.
• The IWBF says the 14-point total applies to its main official competitions (the World Championships, the Paralympic Games and their qualifying tournaments) and that variations in the points total may apply in other competitions.
• The Wheelchair Basketball Canada pages and documents used for this guide do not publish a separate limit for Canadian competitions, so 14 is the only figure that can be confirmed from official sources.

Source: IWBF Official Wheelchair Basketball Rules 2024, Article 51 (hosted at wheelchairbasketball.ca/technical/iwbf-rules).

The 2024 IWBF rules (Article 3) set these main requirements:

• Seat height (floor to top of the cushion, or the seat platform if no cushion is used, measured with you out of the chair): no more than 63 cm for players 1.0 to 3.0 and 58 cm for players 3.5 to 4.5.
• Wheels: 3 or 4 wheels, being 2 large rear wheels and 1 or 2 small front wheels. Large wheels, including tires, may be at most 69 cm in diameter. There must be 1 hand rim on each wheel.
• Front protection: a horizontal bar at the front/side must be 11 cm from the floor at its most forward point and throughout its length. If there is no bar, the footrest must be 11 cm from the floor.
• Anti-tip castors: 1 or 2 anti-tip devices using no more than 2 small castors in total, at the rear. The distance from the castors to the floor may be at most 2 cm, and they must not stick out beyond the rearmost points of the driving wheels.
• Not allowed: steering devices, brakes or gears, and lighting that reflects or flashes. Tires or castors that mark the floor are not permitted unless the marks can be easily removed.
• Back padding: the horizontal bar at the back of the backrest needs padding at least 1.5 cm thick.
• Arm rests and upper body supports must not project beyond the line of your legs or trunk in the natural sitting position.

A chair that breaks these rules is banned from the game.

Source: IWBF Official Wheelchair Basketball Rules 2024, Article 3.1.

Under the 2024 IWBF rules the wheelchair is considered part of the player.

• If your chair stops working or becomes unsafe, the referee stops the game at an appropriate time so the team can repair it. If the repair cannot be completed in 50 seconds or less from the time the game was stopped, you must be substituted.
• If you fall out of your chair without a foul occurring, the referee pays careful attention to protecting you when deciding when to stop play.
• A chair that breaks the equipment rules can be banned from the game.

Source: IWBF Official Wheelchair Basketball Rules 2024, Article 3.

Under the 2024 IWBF rules (the travelling rule is called "three pushes"):

• While holding the ball you may not take more than 2 pushes on your large wheels.
• A dribble can start when you push your large wheels and dribble the ball at the same time, or when you take one or two pushes with the ball resting on your lap (not between your knees) or held in your hand, followed by dribbling. You can repeat that sequence as often as you like.
• Pivot movements count as part of the dribble and are limited to 2 consecutive pushes without dribbling the ball.
• Braking a wheel without moving your hand(s) backward or forward is not a push.
• Taking too many pushes is a travelling violation.

Source: IWBF Official Wheelchair Basketball Rules 2024, Articles 24 and 25.

Not to gain an advantage. The 2024 IWBF rules say:

• Lifting: you may not raise your buttocks so that both cheeks are no longer in contact with the seat platform (or the cushion, if one is used) to gain an unfair advantage. This applies when you shoot, rebound or pass, try to block a shot or pass, try to secure a pass, or contest the tap-off at the start of the first quarter.
• Jumping: you may not cause all parts of your wheelchair to come off the floor while both hands are off the rear wheels.
• Tipping: it is a violation for a player in control of the ball, or trying to gain control of it, to lean forward or backward so the chair tips and any part of it other than the tires or castors touches the court. Touching the court with any part of your body except your hands is also a violation in that situation.

Source: IWBF Official Wheelchair Basketball Rules 2024, Articles 14 and 31.

Under the 2024 IWBF rules:

• A team has no more than 12 team members entitled to play, including a captain, plus a head coach and up to 8 accompanying delegation members (including assistant coaches who may sit on the bench).
• 5 team members from each team are on the court at a time.
• A team member who has committed 5 fouls is an excluded player and is no longer entitled to play.
• You must be named on the scoresheet before the start of the game to be entitled to play.
• You may not stay in the opponents' restricted area for more than 3 consecutive seconds while your team controls a live ball and the game clock is running. Your wheels and any anti-tip castors that continually touch the court must all be outside the restricted area for you to count as outside it.

Source: IWBF Official Wheelchair Basketball Rules 2024, Articles 4 and 26.