Shelley Matheson (née Chaplin) (born 4 September 1984) is an Australian
3.5-point player wheelchair basketball
Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...
player. She participated in the
2004 Summer Paralympics
)
, nations = 136
, athletes = 3,806
, events = 519 in 19 sports
, opening = 17 September
, closing = 28 September
, opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos
, cauldron = Georgios Toptsis
, stadium = Olympic ...
in Athens, where she won a silver medal; in the
2008 Summer Paralympics
The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...
in Beijing, where she won a bronze medal, and the
2012 Summer Paralympics
The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...
in London, where she won a second silver medal, a win she dedicated to her lifelong friend Shannon.
Chaplin began playing wheelchair basketball in 1999, after initially contemplating developing her archery skills, and made her debut in the
Women's National Wheelchair Basketball League
The Australia Women's National Wheelchair Basketball League (WNWBL) is a women's semi-professional wheelchair basketball league in Australia.
Teams
The league currently has six teams:
Sydney University Flames
The Sydney University Flames, ...
(WNWBL) in 2000. She was part of the WNWBL championship Dandenong Rangers sides in 2011 and 2012. She was first selected for the
Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team
The Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team is the women's wheelchair basketball side that represents Australia in international competitions. The team is known as the Gliders. The team hasn't won a gold medal for Australia since i ...
, known as the Gliders, in 2001, and first represented Australia in 2002, winning a bronze medal as part of the team at the 2002 World Wheelchair Basketball Championship. She played for the
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
wheelchair basketball team, and was named an
All-America
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
n in the 2006/07 season. Her team won the national championships in 2009.
Personal life
Nicknamed Chappers,
[ Chaplin was born in ]Bendigo, Victoria
Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital.
As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban populat ...
, on 4 September 1984, with incomplete paraplegia. She grew up in Bendigo, and went to Girton Grammar School
Girton Grammar School is an Australian independent co-educational school from Prep to Year 12 located in Bendigo, Victoria.
History
Girton Grammar School was founded in late 1992 after the closure that year of Girton College, a school owned an ...
. In 2010, she graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
with a Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
degree in Recreation, Sport and Tourism.[
After completing her studies at the University of Illinois Chaplin took up a position at ]Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
. At the ABC Chaplin was a Production Assistant on Adam Hills Tonight
''Adam Hills Tonight'', formerly known as ''Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight'', is a comedic Australian television interview show that ran from February 2011 to July 2013 on ABC1. It was hosted by comedian Adam Hills and co-starred Hannah Gads ...
in 2013 and Spicks and Specks in 2014.
Chaplin is married Kieran Matheson and they have two children.
Basketball
A 3.5-point player, Chaplin began playing wheelchair basketball in 1999. In financial year
A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many j ...
2012/2013, the Australian Sports Commission
The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government commission responsible for supporting and investing in sport in Australia. The Commission incorporates the Australian Institute of Sport. From 2018 to 2022, it was known as Sp ...
gave her a A$20,000 grant as part of their Direct Athlete Support program. She received $20,000 in 2012/13, $17,000 in 2011/12 and 2010/11, $5,571.42 in 2009/10 and $5,200 in 2008/09.
Club
Chaplin made her debut in the Women's National Wheelchair Basketball League
The Australia Women's National Wheelchair Basketball League (WNWBL) is a women's semi-professional wheelchair basketball league in Australia.
Teams
The league currently has six teams:
Sydney University Flames
The Sydney University Flames, ...
(WNWBL) in 2000 when she played for the Whittlesea Pacers.[ She played for the Dandenong Rangers in 2011 when her team won the WNWBL title,] and in 2012 was the captain of the Victoria Dandenong Rangers.[ In a round four game against Sydney Uni Flames that the Rangers won 55–44, she scored 22 points.] Her team qualified for the league finals, where she scored 16 points in the game against the Stacks Goudkamp Bears for her team to walk away as champions by a score of 77–54. That season, she was named the league's Most Valuable 3 Point Player and a member of the 2012 All Star Five.
University
Chaplin played for the University of Illinois Wheelchair Basketball
The University of Illinois Wheelchair Basketball teams are the oldest teams of their kind in the United States.
History
In 1948 the University of Illinois was the first college in the United States to establish a collegiate wheelchair basketb ...
team in the country's first division. In 2006/07, she was coached by Mike Frogley,[ and was the team's starting ]point guard
The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...
. Early in the 2006/07 season, her wheelchair broke and she had to play in one that was not hers. After three games played in the borrowed chair, she had bloody and bruised knees. She was named an All-America
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
n in the 2006/07 season.
In two games that Chaplin's team won against RIC Express and the University of Alabama
The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...
in December 2006, she scored 35 total points, made 13 rebounds and 7 assists. She was named the Most Valuable Player
In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
(MVP) of the series. Her team finished that series with a record of 10–0. In a January 2009 game against 7th ranked Alabama that her team won 52–47, she scored 22 points. The game was part of a tournament where her team also defeated Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
53–49, and the University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...
, 48–27. That season, her team won the national championships after defeating the Phoenix Mercury 53–36 in the championship game.[
In 2007/08, Chaplin's team won the national championship and she was named the tournament's MVP. In the team's 44–43 victory over the University of Alabama, she scored 12 points.] That year, she was a junior
Junior or Juniors may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959
* ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009
* ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010
* ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019
Films
* ''Junior'' (1994 ...
and played point guard for the team. Her team played against a number of men's teams during that season. In January 2008, the team lost three games to men's teams, including a 61–41 loss to Southwest Minnesota State where she scored 14 points, a 54–35 loss to Edinboro where she scored 10 points in a 74–20 loss to Wisconsin-Whitewater.[ In April 2010, Chaplin was named the First Team All-Tournament at the national championships. For the 2009/10 season, she was also named the University of Illinois Women's Wheelchair Basketball Player of the Year.][
]
National team
Chaplin was first selected for the Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team
The Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team is the women's wheelchair basketball side that represents Australia in international competitions. The team is known as the Gliders. The team hasn't won a gold medal for Australia since i ...
, known as the Gliders, in 2001,[ and first represented Australia in 2002, winning a bronze medal as part of the team at the 2002 World Wheelchair Basketball Championship.]
Chaplin was part of the Gliders team at the 2010 IWBF World Championships where her team came fourth, and the team that won the Osaka Cup in Japan in 2008, 2009 and 2010. In February 2013, she was captain of the Gliders at the Osaka Cup, where the Gliders successfully defended the title they had won in 2012. Chaplin was named MVP of the tournament.
After five years absence and the birth of two children, Matheson was selected to play for the Gliders in qualification tournaments for the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Paralympics
Chaplin was part of the Gliders at the 2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
, and 2012 London Paralympics, and won two silver medals, in 2004 and 2012, and a bronze medal in 2008 as part of the team.[
Chaplin competed with the Gliders at the 2012 Summer Paralympics.In the group stage, the posted wins against Brazil,] Great Britain, and the Netherlands, but lost to the Canada. This was enough to advance the Gliders to the quarter-finals, where they beat Mexico. The Gliders then defeated the United States by a point to set up a final clash with Germany. In the gold medal game, the Gliders lost 44–58, and earned a silver medal. She scored 8 points in the game, in which she played 26:58 minutes.
Statistics
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mattheson, Shelley
Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for Australia
Wheelchair basketball players at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
Wheelchair basketball players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
Wheelchair basketball players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
Paralympic silver medalists for Australia
Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia
People with paraplegia
Illinois Fighting Illini Paralympic athletes
1984 births
Living people
Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
Australian women's wheelchair basketball players
Point guards
Paralympic medalists in wheelchair basketball
Sportspeople from Bendigo
Sportswomen from Victoria (state)