End of a Great Season!

The Junior Thunderbirds marked the end of a great season with a fun game against their parents, families, and coaches on April 5th. Despite one sided officiating for the parents and sometimes playing against as many as eight people at a time, the juniors held on to close out the year with one more win. After the game, a celebration was held to thank everyone for their hard work this year. We recognized that the season was a success only because of the combined efforts of the players, their families, the coaches, and all the sponsors and friends of the team. The players were recognized for their contributions to the team with the following awards:

Ryan Farnsworth – “Best Attitude”

Correy Rossi – “Playmaker”

Rickey Covert – “Best Hustle”

Wahbeh Nuseibeh – “Rookie of the Year”

Reagan Laetz – “Rookie of the Year”

Kassem Sleiman – “Rookie of the Year”

Valentino Paige – “Most improved Shooter”

Brandon Bluford – “Most improved Dribbler”

Nolan Kashat – “Best Court Awareness”

Kevin Konfara – “Most Consistent Shooter”

Carlie Cook – “Best Communicator”

Andrew Gwizdala – “Most Improved Post Player”

Deonte McThune – “Most Determined”

Ken McThune – “ “Quick Shooter”

Jaime Tait – “Most Improved Team Player and Leader”

We are very proud of all our team members and look forward to an even better season next year!

4th at Nationals!

What a great season! The Jr. Michigan Thunderbirds return home from Nationals with a 4th place trophy! After only two years in the program, The Jr. Michigan Thunderbirds have proven that they are rising stars. The team traveled to Peoria, IL for the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Junior Prep Division National Tournament March 9-12, 2006. They opened the tournament against Music City, a team from Tennessee and glided past them with ease 22-14. Then they faced one of their conference teams, the Turnstone Flyers. They had faced them before and new exactly how to penetrate their defense. The team held the flyers to 6 baskets. Correy Rossi and Valentino Paige led in assists. It was then on to tournament play against Nebraska. The competition was getting tougher but, the Thunderbirds turned on the heat. Again, Correy Rossi ran the floor and had 9 assists in a victory over Nebraska 28-20. The win placed the Thunderbirds in the final four. They would see Sterling Heights in the semi-finals. They had played Sterling Heights several times throughout the year and had won but, they new it was going to be a tough road to the finals. They lost to Sterling Heights in the semi's and then played Charlotte for 3rd and 4th place. Two team members, Correy Rossi was nominated for first team all tournament team and Carlie Cook was nominated for second team all tournament team. The season is coming to an end but, the team is already looking toward next year. The organization plans to have two teams next year a Prep team (ages 12 and under for boys and 13 and under for girls) and a JV team. If you are interested in learning more about the team please call Claudia Brewer at 248-796-4673 or Noelle Schlesselman at 586-457-4616. Congratulations to the Junior Michigan Thunderbirds on an outstanding season.

Off to Nationals!

The Jr. Michigan Thunderbirds have a 15-1 overall record with an 11-0 conference record. They are first in the Midwest Conference and are headed to Nationals in Peoria, IL March 9-12. In the last two tournaments they have gone undefeated and have brought home the first place trophies. They finished first in the Midwest regional tournament as well as the Midwest conference tournament. They have faced some tough competition and managed to come out on top. The teams that they have faced will give them a good idea of what they will be up against in Peoria when they go head to head with teams from around the country. Good luck Thunderbirds! Besides working hard on the court, the team is working hard in the classroom. 7 team members have been named to the conference all academic team. Great job everyone!

New Season off to great start

The Jr. Thunderbirds continued their winning ways with 3 victories at the December 10th conference tournament they hosted in Southfield, MI. The team is now 7-1 and currently ranked 5th in the nation by the NWBA. They turned in a strong performance by defeating the Turnstone Flyers 12-8, the Grand Rapids Pacers 15-8, and the Sterling Heights challengers 19-2. The team played tough defense throughout the day, it culminated with just 2 points allowed to their cross town rivals, the Challengers, in the final game of the tournament. Leading the team in scoring were Kevin Konfara with 20 points and Valentino Paige with 16, with assists from Correy Rossi and Ricky Covert. As the Jr. Thunderbirds look forward to their upcoming tournaments, assistant coach Claudia Brewer says," We need to focus on playing and winning one game at a time. If we can stay focused and play good defense, we will have a winning season."

Minnesota Regional Tournament

The Junior Thunderbirds started off the 2005-2006 season with a 4-1 record at the Minnesota Regional tournament on Nov 18 and 19th. The team finished 3rd place overall defeating Nebraska in the final game.

After defeating Nebraska 12-2 and Minnesota 16-5 in pool play, the team advanced to the quarterfinals first in their pool. Rookie Carlie Cook scored her first 6 points in the game verses Minnesota, and 7-year-old Ricky Covert started every game of the tournament heading up some important steals in the half court. The victory against Sioux Falls 18-9 took the team to the semifinals against Milwaukee. After a long Saturday, the team fell to Milwaukee 6-22. In the final game, Valentino Paige was not about to let his team lose again. He led the team with 14 of the 18 points scored.

Michigan was well represented on the all tournament team. Correy Rossi was named to the all tournament team and Carlie Cook received the sportsmanship award. We are looking forward to the rest of the season.

Jr. T-Birds Headed to Nationals

The Jr. Michigan Thunderbirds earned a bid to the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Junior National Tournament February 18-20, in Alabama. Victories over the Hammond Rollin' Hoosiers and Grand Rapids Pacers propelled the T-Birds to a 2-2, second place finish at the conference championship tournament in Grand Rapids.

Leading the way was forward Kevin Konfara, who was named to the all-tournament team as well as Most Valuable Player. Thunderbirds Coach Noelle Schelesselman is extremely proud of the team's success on and off the court, as seven of nine players earned conference all-academic team honors. Congratulations to Ricky Covert, Ryan Farnsworth, Greg Kornacki, Andrew Gwizdala, Nolan Koshat, Correy Rossi and Kevin Konfara for their outstanding efforts in the classroom! "Keep up those good grades," encouraged Schlesselman!

Join The Junior Thunderbirds

The Junior Thunderbirds got started during the 2003-04 season. Despite not having enough players to participate in tournaments, we practiced every week to improve our skills and will be ready to go next season. Our goal is to learn the basics of wheelchair basketball and develop a strong team focusing on good sportmanship and strong fundamentals. We will look to travel to conference and regional tournaments in order to qualify for the national tournament at the end of the season.

We are still looking to add players and no experience is necessary. Anyone in high school or younger can participate with any physical disability. There are currently 3 divisions within the junior division--prep (13 and younger for boys, 14 and younger for girls), Junior Varsity and Varsity.

The team is led by head coach Noelle Schlesselman and assistant coach Claudia Brewer. Noelle has been coaching juniors since 1998 and has led two teams to Junior National Championships. She was the Head Coach of the 2004 Junior USA Team that won a gold medal in Australia, the Assistant Coach of the Junior USA Team in 2003, and Assistant Coach of the USA women's team for 2003-2004. She is an Occupational Therapist for the Macomb Intermediate School District.

For practice times or more information on the team, contact Noelle Schlesselman at nschlesselman@misd.net or by phone at 586-457-4616, or Claudia Brewer at 248-796-4673.

The Junior Thunderbirds are also sponsored by Oakland County Parks and Southfield Parks and Recreation.

For more wheelchair sports events, see our general events calendar.