UNM Wants Wheelchair Team Out of Johnson Gym

For those who don't know I play on the Albuquerque Kings Wheelchair basketball team. Recently we've been saddened by UNM Johnson Gym Management as they have decided to kick the team out after 27 years of playing there. I'll update everyone with more information, but please read what the Albuquerque Journal wrote.

Albuquerque Journal Copyright 2008 Albuquerque Journal
By Martin Salazar
Journal Staff Writer

The University of New Mexico is pulling the red carpet out from under the Albuquerque Kings.
And now the Kings— a wheelchair basketball team that has practiced at Johnson Center for about 20 years— is looking for a new court for Saturdays.
"If they're going to give us the cold shoulder, I want people to know that they're doing this to us," team member Sebastian Rael said. "Also, I want the city of Albuquerque to realize that hey, we don't have a place to practice (on Saturdays)."
Barring a compromise, Rael said, the team must be out of Johnson by semester's end.
UNM spokeswoman Susan McKinsey said Tuesday that the university is continuing to work with the group and wants a fair solution for everyone.
The Governor's Commission on Disability is looking into the matter, said the commission's interim director, John Block III.
"We think it's a great activity, and I think it's been great for UNM to be able to provide that space for all these years," he said. "I believe it would be great for the community and the good will of UNM to continue it."
Roger Wrolstad, manager of Johnson Center, said the university has received hate mail from people outraged that UNM is charging the group.
He said the team has been charged $500 a year— far less than what other groups pay. Another basketball team pays about $2,000 in rent for two hours on 10 Saturdays, he said.
But Wrolstad said money isn't the main issue. The team is using space on Saturdays during operating hours, tying up a court that is meant for students, he said.
"I've got to treat everybody the same," Wrolstad said. "And these guys haven't, unfortunately, been treated the same. They've gotten a lot better treatment, and it's not fair to anybody else."
University policies say non-UNM organizations using the center on a daily to weekly basis "need to conduct their event outside of the center's normal operating hours."
The Kings use a basketball court at Johnson Center from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturdays, during regular hours.
Rael said few students use Johnson Center when the Kings are practicing.
"On Saturdays when they have it available for students, there's like three students that are there," Rael said. "They have eight courts, and like I've told UNM, if that was the problem ... if there's eight courts being used by UNM students, we'll say OK, you guys can use the courts. We understand that."
Wrolstad said that whether students are actually using the courts is irrelevant.
"It's there for the students if they want to use it," he said.
The team already practices for free at a city facility on Mondays and at a county facility on Thursdays.
Ron Natividad, a UNM senior, scrimmages with the Kings and helps them.
"I don't think it's right," he said of the situation.
Rael said recreational activities for people with disabilities are hard to find.
"We're trying to do something good," he said. "We're trying to stay healthy, trying to be part of the community."

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