Wheelchair basketball player gets moment of a lifetime

Gerrard, an 11-year-old from Grand Rapids, made a basket in the final minute of a travel basketball game for Northcoast Premier at the Brawl for the Ball on Friday, July 19, 2024. (Screen shot from the video).

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Gerrard was getting antsy and was spinning in his wheelchair while watching a travel basketball game. 

So he asked his family if he could go down on the court to sit next to the bench with his buddy Ben Geerdes, who was playing for the Northcoast Premier 15U team in the Brawl for the Ball travel basketball tournament on Friday, July 19.

“While we were watching his friends on the Northcoast team warm up tonight, he asked if he could go hang out next to the bench,” said Jeremy Geerdes, the father of Ben, who is a sophomore at Caledonia High School. The Geerdes family has known Gerrard since he was 2-years old. Gerrard, 11, is from Grand Rapids and loves basketball. He’s pretty good, too. 

On Friday, he got a moment he’ll never forget.

Mark Zichterman, who coaches the Northcoast team, had never met Gerrard, but didn’t mind him being with the team.

“I hadn’t met him before,” Zichterman said. “But he got comfortable with us. He’s so enthusiastic. Then (the players) started chanting ‘put Gerrard in!’ So I asked Keondre (Sanders) to let Gerrard wear his jersey.”

Northcoast was playing 5Star, a team out of Elkhart, Ind., and would end up winning by a wide margin.

So Zichterman asked 5Star coach Seth Maust to see if he’d be OK with Gerrard getting into the game.

“I approached the other coach,” Zichterman said. “I said ‘see that kid in the wheelchair? Would you mind if he got in?’ Credit to their coach to be willing to let that happen.”

With 1:20 left in the game, Gerrard got the ball and dribbled up court. He took one shot and missed. Ben Geerdes got the rebound and gave it back to his buddy. This time Gerrard drained it.

“It happened so quickly and it was an amazing moment,” Jeremy Geerdes said. “Gerrard couldn’t stop talking about his bucket the whole way home.” 

Below is the video that Jeremy Geeres shot on Friday.