Wheelchair basketball star Joe is blazing a trail for Paralympic heroes
A DERBY 21-year-old has become the star of a campaign by the International Paralympic Committee and Facebook, highlighting how sport has created positive change for disabled communities around the world.
Joe Hinsley, from Littleover, was born with spina bifida and uses a wheelchair.
When he was six years old, Joe’s parents started taking him and his twin brother Ben, to play wheelchair basketball which Joe says has had an amazing impact on his confidence throughout his life.
Joe said: “It has helped me a lot. So it has helped me with my confidence and helped me to be able to speak in front of people.
“It’s also helped with my social side like meeting new people and going out with people so yeah, it has helped quite a lot.”
Joe plays for Derby Wheelblazers, which was founded in 2007 with the help of Derby City Council.
“I was six years old when I started so I have been playing for 15 years,” Joe explained.
“I was really nervous at the time and I was quite scared because I didn’t know what to expect. But then, once I got into it, it was actually alright and it was actually quite fun and I still find it quite fun now.
Derby Wheelblazers is one of the four communities featured as part of the #WeThe15 campaign alongside communities from the US, New Zealand, and Brazil.
The series of films aims to spotlight the 15% of the world’s population who have a disability.
“The campaign aspires to end discrimination against people with disabilities. Joe and his family were surprised when the video, which now has over 122,000 views on Facebook, focused on him and his story.
“My sports coach asked me if I wanted to be part of this all and then we got involved and did all the filming, it was a really good experience,” Joe said.
“We thought it would be a so small thing, we didn’t realise it would be as large as it has been.
“It has been really good. A lot of people that have seen it that I know have said what a great job I’ve done and what an amazing video to show off to people.”
Joe’s dad, Stephen said: “We didn’t think it would be international.
“It has been an honour to be involved in it really because it was only really when we found out from the film crew that they were going to do Joe and that was it for the UK.
“There’s four people in the world and Joe is one of them.”
In the video, Joe’s coach, Martin Austin champions his journey from a shy and reserved boy into a confident player who is now taking on more coaching responsibilities himself.
He said: “If Joe hadn’t found wheelchair basketball, I think Joe would be one of those kids that wouldn’t engage and that’s kind of the mission because those people are still out there.”
Janet Hinsley, Joe’s mum, said: “Martin has really championed Joe. He really wants to grow Joe and help [him] be the best Joe [he] can be.”
Joe said: “Martin wants me to lead [sessions] more and get more involved in that side of it. He knows that I can do it, it’s just me having the confidence to do it myself.”
Joe is also studying media at Portland College in Mansfield and also taking part in an employment scheme to help him gain work experience to start this career.
The Wheelblazers have been unable to play or train for almost two years due to the pandemic. Joe explained: “We’ve not been able to so it has kind of stopped us really but we all keep in contact on social media to see how we all are.
“We’ve not really had anywhere to go and train but I would really like to get back into it.”
Derby Wheelblazers are hoping to start training again in September. To anyone who has thought about taking part in the sport, Joe said: “If you see the opportunity and you have thought about it that you want to join the community then take the opportunity to see if it is something that you want to get into. If it’s not then you’ve tried it but if it is then you’ve found something to do than sitting around.”