The basketball courts at Pro Net Sports in Fishers are always full on weekends. But Dec. 13-14, the sounds of dribbling and buzzer beaters were accompanied by the whirl of wheels, as young athletes with RHI Racers adaptive basketball program hosted the 2025 Hoosier Hoops Classic wheelchair basketball tournament.
RHI Racers varsity and junior teams each took home the gold at the end of the two-day tournament, toppling teams from Missouri, Ohio and Michigan.
RHI Racers are part of the adaptive sports program through the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana. Based in Indianapolis, the adaptive sports program provides opportunities for individuals with physical disabilities in central Indiana to participate in adaptive sports and recreation, including basketball, golf, lacrosse, tennis, hockey, baseball, soccer, waterskiing and more.
“We have a clinic once a year in the summertime that RHI will put on,” junior team coach Ed Landreph said. “We go to different clinics (and) we get the word out. We’ve only got one (adaptive basketball) team in Indiana. There are definitely more kids out there that are in wheelchairs that could definitely learn how to play.”
Landreph and his wife, Kristen, have two children in the league. The family travels from Muncie each Saturday for practice and said adaptable sports like wheelchair basketball are similar to travel sports — it’s about commitment, time and a lot of travel.
“It’s the game of basketball. The only thing is they’re not walking. They’re still dribbling. They’re still shooting the ball. They’re still passing,” Ed Landreph said. “They’re still playing with their friends and it’s no different than regular basketball.”
That includes the same kind of aggressive play that is normal among Hoosiers when it comes to basketball.
“You flip over a lot,” said player Jonathin Perez, 12, of Indianapolis.
Now in his sixth year with RHI Racers, Perez said he likes the relationships he’s made along the way and said it’s one of his favorite parts of the league.
“It’s to meet new friends on the other teams and just build better relationships with them,” he said.
Teammate Easton Gaynor, 13, of Zionsville echoed the sentiment.
“I like meeting new people,” he said. “Every Saturday we have a two-hour practice, but after practice I don’t work too hard.”
Gaynor, who has spina bifida, is in his third year in the league.
Elon Taylor, 13, of Bloomington said the league provides access to his favorite pastime in a competitive way.
“I like that it takes my disability in a sport that I love and combines it into one,” he said. “I like the speed. I don’t train as much as I want to, but I’ll get some shots in like 20 minutes every day maybe.”
Although the game is played in a wheelchair, not all the participants are full-time wheelchair users. All children in the league have a lower-extremity disability ranging from limb loss to spina bifida.
“It’s all about being active and being involved, just like your peers,” Kristen Landreph said. “Because individuals may have a disability, but that doesn’t stop them from doing what everyone else does. You just kind of have to think outside of the box and then look to see what’s available and you have to find what’s right for your family, what’s right for your child. You may try out basketball and say, ‘This isn’t right for me.’ But you may try out tennis and say, ‘Oh my gosh, this is my thing.’ It’s not having kids mold into one particular thing — it’s just about trying and experiencing and finding out what you like and what you don’t like.”
Ed Landreph said young athletes who participate in regular league play at Pro Net Sports in Fishers made a point during the tournament to watch the action.
“When they walk by, they’re just looking at it and saying, ‘It’s so cool.’” he said. “You can just hear them talking about how cool these kids are, but it’s no different than regular basketball. When I ask my own friends at work if they want to come watch us play, when they show up they can’t believe how physical it is, how everyone plays together. It’s really physical, especially the varsity team. They’re allowed to press and they hit each other hard. It’s no different than any other sport.”
The RHI Racers participate in events throughout the year. The teams travel to Cartersville, Ga. in January for their next tournament.
Follow the RHI Racers varsity team at facebook.com/rhiracers and the junior team at facebook.com/rhijrracers.
ADAPTIVE SPORTS IN CENTRAL INDIANA
Although basketball may be the unofficial sport of Indiana, the RHI Adaptive Sports Program at the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana has a variety of sports — competitive and recreational — for individuals with spinal cord, orthopedic, neuromuscular and visual impairments.
The program began in 1996 with an adaptive water ski clinic and grew to include everything from competitive basketball and golf to boxing and yoga.
The program includes competitive and noncompetitive sports for all ages, with 30 to 40 recreational clinics offered yearly.
Learn more at rhirehab.com under the Our Programs tab.
