Wheelchair basketball is an opportunity for 14-year-old Sophia Maloney to burn energy and feed her love of sport.

She said she was not afraid to compete against men more than twice her age.

"When we play it is quite rough and that's how wheelchair basketball goes," she said.

"I just bring it to them and do the same to them."

Sophia said she hoped to one day represent Australia in the Paralympic Games in multiple sports including swimming, wheelchair netball and bocce.

But growing up in Tamworth in regional NSW meant it had been difficult to find sports that accommodated her cerebral palsy, a congenital disorder that affected her ability to move.

"There's no wheelchair netball, so [basketball] is the closest to wheelchair sport I can get here in Tamworth."

Barriers for women with disabilities

A 2022-23 AusPlay report found just 19.7 per cent of women with a disability were regularly involved in organised sport.

That was compared to 33.1 per cent of non-disabled women and 29.2 per cent of men with a disability.

It was a slight decrease from a 2016-17 study which found 21.5 per cent of women with disability participated, along with 35.6 per cent of non-disabled women and 31.4 per cent of disabled men. 

Research fellow at Griffith University, Georgia Munro-Cook, recently completed a study into why there was such a difference in participation rates.

"Firstly, women with disability tend to have parents and doctors who are more protective of them," Ms Munro-Cook said.

"They are less likely to want them to get involved in more rough sports, like wheelchair rugby.

"From there it is really hard to find women-only teams: in wheelchair basketball for example, a lot of the lower levels are mixed."

The research showed that women with a disability were more likely to receive inappropriate comments and have less access to appropriate facilities.

Ms Munro-Cook said there were also concerns that disabled women were often coached by able-bodied men who had little understanding of their situation.

"Maybe they have to go to the bathroom more often or have a rest more often," she said.

"Even if you know it intellectually, it is very different feeling it in your body and knowing when to rest."

Understanding disabilities

The federal government last year announced $450,000 in the Paralympic talent identification and pathway programs with the goal of building Australia's largest team for the 2032 Brisbane Paralympic Games.

Ms Munro-Cook was the captain of the Australian wheelchair basketball team at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

She hoped her research would help raise awareness of how disabilities affected women and create more room for women at the top of the sporting world by removing barriers at the bottom.

She said sport could have many benefits for helping people with a disability develop a sense of belonging and understand their particular conditions better.

"You'll learn so much about yourself and how you can use your body in ways you never thought before," she said.

"When I went into playing wheelchair basketball I didn't really know how to manage my disability very well and it has taught me a lot."

Sharing the love

Back in Tamworth, Catherine Rae organises wheelchair basketball games for people with and without disabilities.

She said she had to do something to continue to feed her love of team sport after becoming paraplegic in a fall 16 years ago.

"That feeling of sharing something as a team, I really missed," Ms Rae said.

"There wasn't really anything [in Tamworth] in that team environment ... I found out that there were some wheelchairs in Armidale that weren't being used."

Ms Rae said the sport helped people with a disability into a better headspace.

"You can leave your disability behind in a way," she said.

Ms Rae said there was a lot of equipment available to help people with a disability into sport.

"It's not that you can't do it, you just have to work out a way to do it," she said.

Sophia Maloney had the same attitude.

"It's so amazing to do it."