Wheelchair basketball team forced to ‘crawl up the stairs’ as lift to court broken for eight weeks

A wheelchair basketball team has been forced to crawl up the stairs or be carried to the court as the lift in the building has been broken for eight weeks.

The Brixton Ballers wheelchair Basketball Club play and train at the Brixton Recreation Centre in Brixton Station Road but have had to miss games and sessions because of the broken lift.

The team’s coach, Austin Kentebe, 52, who lives in Stratford, said the players had found it “embarrassing” to be carried to the court on the fourth floor of the building.

Mr Kentebe also claimed that two players had to wait two hours to leave the building on one occasion because there were no staff members to help them with the stairs.

“We’ve had to cancel three league games and the guys just cannot get to training,” he said. “We’ve had to carry some of the players up the stairs. One of them crawled up the stairs because he didn’t want to wait for others to turn up. He’s a double amputee.

“This is a social-based club. This might be the only time a lot of these guys get out of the house all week. It’s frustrating and everyone is very down at the moment.”

Mr Kentebe claimed that GLL, the organisation running the building, had told him they did not know what was happening with the repair of the lift, but when he spoke with the lift engineer on site they said it just needed a new part to be paid for.

Mr Kentebe also claimed the engineer had said the lift was at least 25 years old.

Players and coaching staff for the team have also reported damage and disrepair around the building and they claimed a hoop fell off in the middle of a game, as well as lights not working.

One member of the team’s coaching staff who did not want to be named said it looked like the building was being run down on purpose.

They said: “It’s a building in the middle of Brixton. It’s prime real estate. We know the building will be going back to Lambeth council in April, and it feels like they are not repairing anything on purpose.”

Brixton Ballers may also have to start paying fines to the governing body of the league if they continue to miss games.

They also have two players on the Team GB pathway who are missing vital training sessions as a result of the lift being broken.

A Spokesperson for GLL said: “We apologise to any customers who have been inconvenienced by the failure of the lift. Our staff are on hand to provide assistance.

“We are committed to providing a high standard of service for users while we continue to manage the centre’s programmes and facilities.

“The lift was repaired but failed again three days later.  Due to problems with the service provided by the existing contractor – including response times – we are seeking a new company to expedite repairs to the lift as a priority.

“The broken hoop will be replaced as soon as possible.

“We are contacting the Brixton Ballers to apologise, explain the situation and the proposed remedy.”

Pictured top: Brixton Ballers train at Brixton Recreation Centre (Picture: Austin Kentebe)