Since 1970

During the 1970s, the practice of wheelchair basketball was introduced at the Alcoitão Medicine and Rehabilitation Center as part of a program for

rehabilitation of patients with motor disabilities, funded by the aforementioned Rehabilitation Center. Gradually, some of the patients participating in this rehabilitation program proposed to the CMR that they form a wheelchair basketball team and register it with the National Association of Sports for the Disabled, sponsored by the Portuguese Federation of Sports for the Disabled, with the aim of participating in official competitions.

This team quickly began to gain followers, not only among the Center's patients, but also among those with various other injuries such as polio and other types of spinal cord diseases and motor disabilities who were not users of the Center.

Due to the costs of participating in official competitions, the Alcoitão Medicine and Rehabilitation Center stopped providing financial support to the wheelchair basketball team. At that time, and despite the risk of losing any support, the athletes decided to formally establish the Alcoitão Disabled Sports Group, an autonomous, non-profit sports group encompassing various adapted sports such as archery, athletics, table tennis, boccia, swimming, goalball, and BCR. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of its leaders and a lack of financial support, only BCR has managed to maintain its position as an independent sports group for 50 years.

But it's very important to highlight that since its independence, the GDDA has established important partnerships with the Cascais City Council, which provides the Pereira Coutinho School Pavilion for BCR practice. Currently, it operates twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 8:40 PM to 10:30 PM. It also provides transportation when the team needs to travel to official competitions and tournaments, and also helps promote our activities. Until before the pandemic, we relied on two vans, a van, and a nine-passenger vehicle. Due to the pandemic measures, this was reduced to just one van, forcing the players to use their own vehicles to transport the players and coaching staff during national competitions.

For several years, GDD-Alcoitão has been in the first division of the Wheelchair Basketball League, which demonstrates that its members have maintained a constant level of training despite the many sacrifices, difficulties and costs that maintaining this practice represents for many.

Every year our BCR team participates in official national competitions initially organized by ANDDEMOT and currently by the Portuguese Basketball Federation.