The SWSA High Performance Wheelchair Basketball Coach is approaching his 20th season
Rob Sajtos initially got into coaching to remain involved in wheelchair basketball; his sons playing the game kept him motivated to coach; now, as he approaches his 20th season, Sajtos says he’s having a lot of fun in his role with the Saskatchewan Wheelchair Sports Association.
“I realized that I enjoy the game, I love being around the people and I was making some great connections with people,” Sajtos said. “I realized that if I wanted to stay involved in some way, I would probably have to transition to another part of the game. So that was the start of coaching.
“It wasn’t anything I ever thought I would do 20 years later, but it was more about staying involved in the game.”
Growing up, Sajtos was an avid hockey and soccer player. He also played basketball and underwater hockey during his university years.
The Saskatoon, Sask. native turned to adaptive sports following a motorcycle accident in 1984.
Sajtos’ first foray into adaptive sport was with rugby, but he was quickly drawn to basketball.
“I always loved basketball,” he said. “I played high school basketball, and I was looking for a little challenge—something to do, to be active. The other part of it is I always liked the team aspect.
“I did try some individual sports a little bit, such as tennis and athletics, but I found that I like to be around people. It was a good motivator for me. If everybody is showing up to practice, I better be there too.”
Having played stand-up basketball at the high school level, Sajtos credits his first wheelchair basketball coach for helping him with the transition.
“He had coached stand-up at the university level, so he really understood the basketball game, and he understood concepts in offence and defence,” Sajtos said. “He was maybe 2-3 years into coaching wheelchair basketball, so he’d started to pick up some of that aspect of it.
“He was a real wealth of knowledge, and I think that was probably my biggest change: having somebody who understood the bigger picture of the game, not just the individual skill part. I really enjoyed playing for him.”
Sajtos first turned to coaching at the 2003 Canada Games after seeing a teammate make the transition.
After nearly two decades of coaching, the 59-year-old says he’s now learning as much from the athletes as he’s teaching them.
“I just think of an example last December-January period. Garrett Ostepchuk was back in Saskatchewan for a bit, and he came out to one scrimmage night we had just to see everybody and play a little bit. Just chatting with him and looking at his chair setup, I learned so much from that—and that’s just one short conversation,” Sajtos recalled. “I learn something from them all the time.”
He’s also learning from his son, Jared.
“He comes at the game with a different perspective than me, and that’s good,” Sajtos said. “It should be that way. He challenges me to think differently. Hopefully, I challenge him occasionally too, but there’s some good things coming out of that. I think that’s good for not only me but also for the sport to have different perspectives.”
On top of coaching, Sajtos is also trying to help the next crop of wheelchair basketball coaches find their way in the game.
“Helping new coaches with getting started, explaining the steps, giving them opportunities to try things and then stepping back and letting them run with it,” Sajtos explained.
While Sajtos doesn’t focus on finding new athletes, the retired bank manager has a recruiting pitch when he gets to speak with those considering the game.
“The biggest part of the pitch for wheelchair basketball is the fact that you can play wheelchair basketball with so many different people,” Sajtos explained. “Especially in Canada, it’s a fully integrated sport, so you don’t have to be out there with other athletes who could qualify for the national team. You can bring out your friends, you can bring out your family.”