Bankshot basketball offers inclusive fun in South Park
People with and without disabilities have a new place to play together, thanks to a Bankshot Basketball court opened recently at South Park.
Bankshot Basketball is similar to minigolf, but played with a basketball. Players go through a course of brightly colored backboards, banking shots off the boards and through the rims.
Invented in 1981 by Rabbi Reed Brenner, of Rockville, Maryland,, Bankshot Sports don’t require running and can accommodate wheelchair athletes and everyone else at the same time.
Andrew Grobe, the deputy director of recreation for Allegheny County, said the county’s Department of
Parks plans free, one-day clinics next spring and summer to establish a program at the courts — the first in southwestern Pennsylvania. He said the department is working with a few groups to serve as partners.
All information on programs and events will be posted on the department’s social media outlets when it becomes available.
“We first found out about Bankshot through an email and how, I believe, a park in Maryland installed one,” Grobe said. “We started to look into it and the administration liked the idea, so we got the ball rolling.
“We want to make the parks more accessible for everyone and this helps us meet that goal.”
Grobe likes that the courts, which are located off Farm Show Drive near the tennis courts, can be used by multiple groups and that they offer a lot of benefits to children and adults alike.
“The different difficulty levels of the hoops make it a fun game for everyone,” he said. “It’s nice to see kids being able to play on the same hoops as their brothers and sisters” without disabilities, “but all come out with the same level of enjoyment.”
Depending on public feedback, more courts may be built elsewhere in the county, Grobe said.
Planning for the courts began in 2021, with construction and installation starting last spring. The project cost
approximately $59,000 and included base repairs, posts, tools and the hoops and bank boards.
A small group of players from the Southpointe Grizzlies Special Hockey team, which plays at the outdoor ice hockey rink in South Park, were invited to test the courts after they were completed.
“In general, there are not a ton of activities for special needs children in the area,” Southpointe Grizzlies president Scott Fazzone said. This “seems like a great fit for us todo in the hockey offseason.
“We had eight players show up, but our group was larger, with parents and siblings participating, as well. Our players really liked the experience.”
Fazzone said the courts are great for socialization, improving fine and gross motor skills and teaching players to follow instructions.
“I’ve taken my two boys there ... and they enjoy it,” he said.
Players may bring their own basketball or borrow one from the parks office during business hours.
Being accessible does not mean it’s easy. The backboards have curves and unconventional shapes to keep things challenging. According to the county’s website, “Some diabolically maddening shots have three backboards and two rims.”
Brenner said an injured cousin in a wheelchair inspired him to start Bankshot
Sports.
There are 800 Bankshot courts nationwide, including several in Pennsylvania near Philadelphia and one in Altoona, Blair County.
Brenner was happy to see one come to southwestern Pennsylvania, where he has ties.
In the 1960s, he taught Jewish philosophy and was the first staff rabbi at St. Vincent College in Latrobe as well as serving as a rabbi in Monessen.
“My daughter was born in Pittsburgh,” he said. “I am very fond of the area.”