By Lily Chen, Design Editor

On the court, sophomore Celeste Russo dribbles, passes and makes baskets. Except, instead of running, she glides smoothly across the polished wood, her wheelchair swerving around opponents. In wheelchair basketball, Russo thrives.

Over the last two years, she has experienced the sport at the college level through summer camps, made connections and found a supportive community of wheelchair basketball players like her.

This summer, Russo attended four camps at PennWest Edinboro, the University of Alabama, University of Arizona and University of Texas. She believes that they have transformed her as an athlete and as a person.

“I’ve learned to be a lot more comfortable in my disability because I’ve met a lot of people I can relate to,” Russo said. “I’ve also met a lot of people with disabilities I haven’t even heard of so the camps also expand your mindset. They are a unified space, and I’ve met a lot of my friends there.”

Russo was introduced to wheelchair basketball through a friend of her mother’s. She loved playing basketball when she was young and embraced the recommendation as an opportunity to try something new.

“When I was younger, I really enjoyed playing basketball with my older brother, but I used to get upset about how I couldn’t run as fast as the other kids,” Russo said. “So, (wheelchair basketball) was something I wanted to try.”

Russo hopes to bring more awareness to adaptive sports and appreciates what Conestoga and her peers have offered her.

“Conestoga has a really inclusive environment. I think that’s something the school does really well,” Russo said. “But even though there’s not a huge disabled population at Conestoga, I think there needs to be more awareness.”

During the school year, Russo plays for Katie’s Komets, a coed wheelchair basketball team based in Philadelphia for “youth with lower limb impairments.” Many of its players have gone on to play at the college level, something Russo aspires to pursue. However, what she truly hopes to accomplish is to inspire younger girls to embrace the sport like she has.

“My main goal for the future is to show younger disabled girls that (wheelchair basketball) is something they could do,” Russo said. “I think in any sport, women are often at a disadvantage. There are less opportunities for us, and we’re underestimated in our own sport, so it’s important that we get opportunities to put ourselves out there in the world.”

Along with her passion for the sport, Russo appreciates basketball because it has brought her self-confidence and a greater meaning in life.

“I would say the last two and a half years have been some of the best of my life because I’ve been able to do something that I love,” Russo said. “I feel like finding something that I can excel at completely changed my outlook on life. Playing sports has given me purpose.”

Lily Chen can be reached at [email protected].