Come Out to the Cloverdale Rec Center's Wheelchair Basketball/ Wheelchair Tennis Try It Day

The New Year is a great time to add some physical fitness into your life. That's why the Cloverdale Recreation Center is offering a Wheelchair Basketball and Wheelchair Tennis "Try It" Day on January 14th. Everyone over the age of 8 is welcome!

Where: Cloverdale Recreation Center 6188 176 Street
When: Jan 14th, 5:30 - 7:30 pm
Ages: 8+
To register: See the poster below for registration codes and details.

Third Annual Wheelchair Tennis Holiday Festival A Success

10 players participated in yesterdays annual BCWSA Holiday fun tennis tournament at the Delta Town and Country Courts. Competition was played in a doubles round-robin event. The pairing of Chris Nichols (Victoria) and Ken Bartel (Surrey) narrowly edged out Kirsten Sharp (Vancouver) and partner Ross MacDonald (Surrey). All participants shared in the holiday spirit with festive music, cookies, pizzas and presents.

To finish off a fun day of tennis, Tennis Canada National Coach Kai Schrameyer and BC provincial coach Steve Manley held a beginner intro clinic for six participants, introducing beginner concepts of wheelchair tennis.

“ This year’s fun holiday tennis tournament was a huge success! “ said Lisa Myers, BCWSA program coordinator” We had over twenty people attend the event, including family and friends who all got in the holiday spirit with us. It was great to see the range of beginner to experienced players at the same event having fun and playing tennis together. Wheelchair tennis continues to grow in British Columbia and BC Wheelchair Sports is excited to keep expanding our wheelchair tennis family through Bridging the Gap events like this. A huge thank you  to the Delta Town and Country Tennis Club for having us and thank you to all who attended this year!"

BCWSA Congratulates Winners of the CWSA Awards

BCWSA congratulates four members of our community who were honoured at the Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association Awards night for their incredible contributions to the wheelchair sports community.  

Female Athlete of the Year: Sarah Hunter

Sarah Hunter recently returned to the international stage in wheelchair tennis after spending a year rehabbing an injury. This year, she’s won 5 international titles. On the ITF Tour, she placed in 19 quarter finals, 7 semi-finals and 5 finals, and is now ranked #6 in the world in singles and #3 in the world in Doubles, making her the top-ranked Canadian. She’s also a passionate athlete mentor who regularly takes part in BCWSA and BTG events. 

 

 

CWSA Volunteer of the Year: Gerry Kripps

As a volunteer photographer, Gerry Kripps has spent hundreds of hours documenting wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis at all levels, producing thousands of photographs. Gerry allows us to acquire high-quality images of events that BCWSA would never be able to afford a professional photographer to document. His amazing photographs have been used on websites, in press releases, in the media, in grant applications, on social media, in brochures and on pop-up banners and no much more. In essence, Gerry allows us to showcase our success and promote our sport to others, and we're so pleased he was recognized for his achievements.

 

 

Dr. Robert W. Jackson Award winner: Joe Higgins

Joe races with our Let's Play kids.

Joe Higgins is a passionate coach, mentor, community champion and builder of wheelchair basketball. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone more passionate about wheelchair basketball than Joe. For over 30 years, he's been a tireless motivating force from the grassroots to the high-performance level. He's willing to do whatever it takes to grow the sport, whether it's driving a new athlete to practice, creating a partnership with another organization, or equipping provincial and national team athletes with the skills they need to take their game to the next level. The partnerships, sports festivals, and other unique initiatives like the Kelowna Wheelchair Basketball Jamboree have been instrumental in providing more competitive opportunities to athletes of all levels.

 

 

Stan Stronge Award (for an athlete with a sense of fair play and dedication to excellence): Byron Green

Wheelchair rugby athlete Byron Green recently experienced success on the international level when he represented Canada at the Denmark Wheelchair Rugby Test Event and the 2013 Americas Zone Qualification Tournament. He is best known, however, for his friendly personality and his incredible dedication to the sport both on and off the court. He's the President of his rugby club, on the board of the BC Wheelchair Rugby Association, and he does it all while working as an engineer. Byron also collaborated with Duncan Campbell to create a wheelchair rugby skills program to give beginning athletes a strong start.

Dates for the January - March Monday Night Roller Sessions Announced

 

Dates have been announced for the Winter Monday Night Roller session. Whether you're looking to improve your performance on the track or you just want to improve your fitness and work off that Christmas Eggnog, come on out to our roller session.

FYI, for those who are attending our Fall session, Dec. 9th is cancelled and Dec. 16th will be the last one before Christmas.

Michelle Stilwell Named BC Athletics Female Para-Athlete of the Year

For the eighth year in a row, Michelle Stilwell has been named the BC Athletics Female Athlete with a Disability of the Year. The wheelchair racing powerhouse was awarded the honour for winning three gold medals and setting one World Record at this year's 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships.

"Michelle shows no sign of slowing down," said BC Wheelchair Sports Association Executive Director Gail Hamamoto. "She's an excellent role model for up-and-coming wheelchair athletes in BC."

This year was one of many milestones for Michelle Stilwell both on and off the track. Despite winning a seat as the Parksville-Qualicum MLA, Stilwell had a stellar performance at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France. She set a world record in the 800m (2:14.79) and a championship record in the 200m (25.71) for the T52 classification. In all, Stilwell finished with gold medals in the 200m, 400m and 800m and regained her position as the most dominant athlete in her class after losing the 100m at the 2012 London Paralympic Games.

In addition to her World Record performance at the World Championships, Stilwell also set a World Record in January this year in the 200m at the Summer Down Under in Canberra, Australia with a time of 33.19. In that series, she won gold in the 100m, 200m, 400m and even the 10k.

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact:

Arley McNeney
Communication Manager
BC Wheelchair Sports Association
Cell: 778-788-9091
Email: arley@bcwheelchairsports.com

Help Neil Squire Learn How People With Disabilities Handle Their Banking Needs

The Neil Squire Society would like to gain a greater understanding of the way people with disabilities handle their everyday banking and payment needs. As part of this project we are seeking people with different disabilities who are willing to complete a short survey about the barriers they face when doing their banking and paying for items and services.

For more information about the Neil Squire Society survey please visit

http://www.neilsquire.ca/financial-transaction-survey/ .

2013 Vancouver Invitational Wheelchair Rugby Tournament Details Released

Information about this year's Vancouver Invitational Wheelchair Rugby Tournament has been released and all Div 1 and Div 2 wheelchair rugby teams are invited to apply.

Teams:  10 team Div 1 and Div 2 tournament.

Tournament Dates: Mar. 14 - Mar. 16 2014

Venue:  Richmond Olympic Oval

6111 River Rd
Richmond, BC

V7C 0A2

*Short wheeling distance to the host hotel, only 1km

Registration:  Tournament Registration Deadline: Friday February 14 2014

Team registration fees will be $850
Cheques can be made payable to ‘BCWSA
Hotel: Sheraton Vancouver Airport
7551 Westminster Highway
Richmond, BC
V6X 1A3
604-273-7878
Please ask for the sales department in order to access the booking block. Group hotel block under ‘Vancouver Invitational Wheelchair Rugby Tournament." Room rate at $120.00 (plus taxes) per night. *accessible king rooms are available. Group reservation rate deadline: Wednesday Feb 12 2014

Transportation:   Transportation will be provided between the airport and host hotel. Shuttle service between the host hotel and the tournament venue will also be provided in case of emergencies.

-Please contact Kevin Bowie to provide your flight arrival and departure times. *Please include number of Day Chairs and Number of Sport Chairs

Contact Info: kevin@bcwheechairsports.com or 604-333-3520 Ext 205

Please send completed registration form and registration fee to:

Kevin Bowie
BC Wheelchair Sports Association
780 SW Marine Drive
Vancouver, BC
V6P 5Y7