Huitema glad to have made switch

Just one clinic with two-time Paralympic Games gold medalist Bo Kramer was enough to convince Rinske Huitema to make the switch to wheelchair basketball.

The 23-year-old was targeting sporting success in taekwondo when the knee condition she had been born with worsened so she turned her focus to Para sports.

And meeting fellow Dutch basketballer Kramer, regarded as one of the world's best players and a key member of the women's team that dominate the sport, proved crucial.

“I was losing my ability to walk and perform the sport I was doing which was taekwondo," Huitema said ahead of the European Para Youth Games in Istanbul which will see six mixed teams will compete at the Cebeci Sports Complex.

“I met Bo and that one clinic was enough for me to get into the sport. I like the team sports and from the first try-out wheelchair basketball is what I wanted to do. I am so glad I did switch as it has given me so many opportunities.

'I dreamed about being a pro athlete since I was a little girl and now I’ve got the chance even though it’s unfortunate that I can’t do the sport that I did for years.

“But I’ve found something else. “I enjoy the physicality of the sport but also the technical ability that is needed.

"Sport is so important for my mental health is is so good to be able to do it."

The Netherlands will face Italy, France, Ireland, Portugal and Spain in the tournament at the EPYG which sees male and female players line-up together.

Huitema, who made the switch from taekwondo around seven years ago, added: “It’s normal for us to be on mixed teams. We always train together in mixed teams as well and I like that I get the opportunity to do that.

“Playing here is different than in the Netherlands. In terms of the physicality you are not allowed to do as much as here. But I like it.

“You give as good as you can whether it’s against a male or female."

Huitema regularly trains with the women's team that dominate the sport and hopes to be part of the squad that will bid for a third successive gold medal at the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games.

“It was they who inspired me to even start wheelchair basketball and still inspire me now," she added. "To be able now to play with some of those players is truly incredible.

“It is inspiring to watch them train, then train with them, learn from them. It’s incredible to have that opportunity.

“We put a lot of effort in to the sport in the Netherlands. We train daily, around 20 hours a week.

“The organisation really tries to put out sport out there, not just on social media, but on television with rights to show the sport.

“We are always trying to get the sport onto an even bigger level and improve the competition.

“The Paralympics in 2028 are definitely my goal. I’ve been training with the women’s team for a few years now, just trying to get better every day."

The record-breaking Istanbul 2025 European Para Youth Games officially open on 24 July and run until 27 July. They will feature a record 640 athletes with 1,200 competitors, coaches and team staff from 33 countries, also the biggest ever number, competing in Para archery, Para athletics, wheelchair basketball, boccia, goalball, Para judo, Para swimming, Para table tennis and Para taekwondo.

Participants will also get to experience the Discovery Programme where they will have the chance to take part in education and experiences in a broad range of topics, including activities designed to immerse the people of Istanbul in EPYG and to get to know Para sport.