COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO -- The National Wheelchair Basketball Association is excited to announce that the American Collegiate Society for Adapted Athletics (ACSAA) will host the 2020 NWBA National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball Tournament from March 18-21. The tournament will be held at Wichita State University’s Heskett Center located in Wichita, Kansas.

The NIWBT is the National Championship Tournament for the NWBA Intercollegiate Division and features the top collegiate wheelchair basketball teams in the nation, representing 11 universities. The NWBA Intercollegiate Division is currently comprised of 10 Men’s and five Women’s teams. In the last two years, the division has seen the recent addition of the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Auburn University.

“On behalf of American Collegiate Society for Adapted Athletics, our donors, partners and friends, I want to express my thanks to the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Intercollegiate Division for extending the invitation to us to host the 2020 National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball Tournament,” said Rob Egan, ACSAA President and Event Director for the 2020 NIWBT. “Our organization has hosted the nation’s Intercollegiate wheelchair basketball programs in Wichita many times before, and we look forward to doing so again in 2020 for what is sure to be a great NIWBT.”

Wichita State University will be well prepared for this tournament, as they have been selected to host the first and second rounds of the Men’s Basketball Championships on March 15 and 17, 2018 at the INTRUST Bank Arena. Outside of basketball, Wichita has hosted many major golf tournaments, U.S. Figure Skating events and the first two rounds of NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament in 2017.

“Wichita is a great location for the NIWBT and continuing to partner with the ACSAA and Rob Egan is beneficial for the future and potential growth of the NWBA’s Intercollegiate Division,” said Anthony Bartkowski, NWBA Executive Director. “The community has supported the ACSAA College Bash for the last several years and we are pleased to bring the college nationals to Wichita State University.”

The University of Illinois was the first collegiate wheelchair basketball program for the first 21 years of the NWBA. Upon the expansion of wheelchair basketball in the 1960s, the first intercollegiate wheelchair basketball game was played on December 3, 1970, between the University of Illinois and Southwest Minnesota State University. In April 1977, the first NIWBT was won by Southern Illinois University. The following year, the Central Intercollegiate Conference was formed within the NWBA, and in 2003, the conference was renamed the Intercollegiate Division.

Recently, the Men’s title for the NIWBT has been won by the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater in 2016 and the University of Texas at Arlington in 2017. The Women’s title has been won by University of Texas at Arlington in 2016 and the University of Alabama in 2017.

More information on the 2020 NIWBT will be provided when available.

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ABOUT THE NWBA:

The National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) is the recognized National Organization for Wheelchair Basketball by the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation and the High Performance Management Organization by the United States Olympic Committee. The NWBA trains and selects teams for participation in the Paralympic Games, World Championships, and other international competitions. The NWBA is comprised of over 225 wheelchair basketball teams and over 2,800 members. The NWBA was founded in 1948, and today consists of seven divisions including: Adult Division (I-III), Women's Division, Intercollegiate Men's Division and Intercollegiate Women's Division, as well a Varsity and Junior Prep Divisions.

The National Wheelchair Basketball Association hosts the National Wheelchair Basketball Tournament presented by ABC Medical each year where the top teams from each division come together to compete for a national title. For the last five years, the NWBT has been held in Louisville, Kentucky, and will be hosted there again April 12-15, 2018. For more information, visit: www.nwba.org.