Terry Bywater

Started: He began the sport at age 12 at the Teeside Lions club in Middlesbrough, England. (terrybywater07.com, 24 Mar 2020; Athlete, 20 Jul 2016) Reason: He attended a wheelchair basketball event at a local sports centre. (bbc.co.uk, 21 May 2012) Ambition: To win gold at the Paralympic Games. (gazettelive.co.uk, 04 Sep 2018) Awards: He and wheelchair tennis player Lucy Shuker were Great Britain's flag bearers at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (medias.paris2024.org, 28 Aug 2024) In 2020 he was named Most Valuable Player [MVP] and in the All-Star Five of the Copa del Rey club competition in Spain. (britishwheelchairbasketball.co.uk, 24 Feb 2020) He was a member of the Great Britain wheelchair basketball team that was awarded the Bill McGowran Trophy at the 2018 Sports Journalists' Association British Sports Awards. (sportsjournalists.co.uk, 01 Jan 2020; yahoo.com, 23 Dec 2018) Additional Info: OTHER ACTIVITIES In 2020 he was appointed as the European representative on the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation [IWBF] Athlete Steering Committee. "I'm very passionate about the sport that I love and have dedicated my life to. I feel it's very important to have athlete representation within IWBF to help make the correct decisions to not only shape the sport for the here and now but also for the future. The future of our wonderful sport is down to the athletes and we need to make sure we keep improving on all levels making the future of wheelchair basketball even better than what it is now with lots of great competitions across the globe." (iwbf.org, 04 Jul 2023, 20 Oct 2020)