Junior David Petit is a competitive wheelchair basketball player that attends Benilde-St. Margaret’s. Petit is very passionate about being part of his team with the Kenny Rehabilitation Institute and is dedicating significant time and work to the sport.

Since Petit was in sixth grade, he has found an affinity for the sport of basketball, working his way up from the prep team to varsity. He loves the sense of team and family he has found in the sport and is excited about having met with a number of college coaches and even one of the paralympic basketball team coaches. “My favorite thing about playing basketball is just all the traveling and the connections I get to make,” Petit said.

Petit goes to the Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute, sponsored by Alina. There, most of the rules and skills in wheelchair basketball are the same as a traditional team. However, there are a few adjustments that allow more individuals to participate. For example, dribbling has been specialized in that a dribble is counted by the number of times an athlete touches the wheel of their chair. “For the most part, they try to keep it the same. Obviously there’s some mechanical differences,” Petit said.

Petit’s basketball team also follows a 1-5 scoring range, categorizing the amount of mobility each athlete has so they can be placed on the team with others who have similar athletic abilities. “I thought that was really unique because it allows for the people who are weaker and have more disability to still be able to play, as they’re still valuable,” Petit said.

Petit has also played lacrosse for two years and softball for six years. He first got into softball because the sports coordinator recommended it as the first sport to try to allow Petit to understand more of the mechanics of wheelchair sports. Going into athletic activities, Petit said his biggest accomplishment was adjusting to becoming a student athlete. Learning to juggle assignments and sports practice was important to him because he wanted to be more organized. “Adapting to having practices weekly and having tournaments on weekends, I think that was a pretty good challenge for me to overcome because it taught me to prioritize things,” Petit said.

Looking forward, Petit plans to play at the collegiate level. After that, he hopes to be called up for the paralympic team. He also could pursue returning to Minnesota and playing on the adult team. Either way, Petit is excited to have basketball in his future. “Right now, I’m just focusing on school and sports,” Petit said.