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TechnographQ & A with Josh George
By Courtney Linehan
Posted: 2/18/05 Section: Sports
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Josh George is a wheelchair basketball player and racer. This past fall he competed in the Paralympics in Athens, Greece, and although he broke world records and medaled, he missed the elusive gold.
George, a news-editorial journalism major, is now focusing on playing wheelchair basketball for the Illini. The team has completed its regular season, and has the national championships coming up in two weeks.
Q: What sports do you play and how did you get involved in them?
A: Currently I'm really just involved in basketball and racing. All through high school I raced, played basketball, swam and played tennis. I've been doing all this since I was about 8 years old, the same age any kid would start.
Q: What wheelchair sports are there?
A: Basically you pick any able-bodied sport and there's a wheelchair side. Except soccer; that would be kind of hard (laughs).
Q: What would you say is the highlight of your athletic career?
A: The whole experience in Athens this September was definitely the highlight of my career. The first time I got on the track for a major international competition, I won my heat and set a world record.
Q: What are your basketball practices like?
A: It sort of depends on where we are in the season. In the fall semester it's mostly skill work - shooting, passing - and then chair skill work, which is the equivalent of sprinting. Then in the spring we buckle down, start focusing on team concepts.
Now we're sort of in that peaking stage. Our workouts have shortened from two hours every morning to an hour and a half. Practices are almost entirely scrimmage to get us ready for competition at nationals in two weeks.
Q: What are some of your interests outside of sports?
A: I'm actually a very lazy person. My whole summer I got a taste of what it's like to be a professional athlete while I was training for the Paralympics. Rest was so vital, I got a perfect opportunity to lay around on the couch watching movies and reading and stuff.
George, a news-editorial journalism major, is now focusing on playing wheelchair basketball for the Illini. The team has completed its regular season, and has the national championships coming up in two weeks.
Q: What sports do you play and how did you get involved in them?
A: Currently I'm really just involved in basketball and racing. All through high school I raced, played basketball, swam and played tennis. I've been doing all this since I was about 8 years old, the same age any kid would start.
Q: What wheelchair sports are there?
A: Basically you pick any able-bodied sport and there's a wheelchair side. Except soccer; that would be kind of hard (laughs).
Q: What would you say is the highlight of your athletic career?
A: The whole experience in Athens this September was definitely the highlight of my career. The first time I got on the track for a major international competition, I won my heat and set a world record.
Q: What are your basketball practices like?
A: It sort of depends on where we are in the season. In the fall semester it's mostly skill work - shooting, passing - and then chair skill work, which is the equivalent of sprinting. Then in the spring we buckle down, start focusing on team concepts.
Now we're sort of in that peaking stage. Our workouts have shortened from two hours every morning to an hour and a half. Practices are almost entirely scrimmage to get us ready for competition at nationals in two weeks.
Q: What are some of your interests outside of sports?
A: I'm actually a very lazy person. My whole summer I got a taste of what it's like to be a professional athlete while I was training for the Paralympics. Rest was so vital, I got a perfect opportunity to lay around on the couch watching movies and reading and stuff.
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