Junior athletes from across the province gained valuable skills and had fun at the 2013 Junior Wheelchair Basketball Challenge. The weekend event offered skill-development and a round-robin-style tournament for athletes aged 8 to 25. This year, Junior Challenge also served as the selection camp for the 2014 BC Winter Games, which will take place in Mission this February.
The weekend offered a few unique twists for participants. Since it was our wonderful photographer Gerry Kripps’ birthday, we took some time to sing him Happy Birthday and share a cake; (our athletes certainly earned some sweets after pushing so hard!). We also took a moment of silence to honour Remembrance Day, with Coach Joe and Coach Brad sharing stories about the impact that veterans have had on the lifestyle we enjoy today. Many campers were surprised to learn that wheelchair basketball wouldn’t exist without World War II, since it was developed in 1945 as a way to rehabilitate veterans who acquired disabilities in wartime.
A big thank you to Head Coach Simon and to coaches Joe, Dave, Arley, Emily, Brad, Perry, and Nathan for all their hard work. Thank you to Nadine and Interim Managing Director Sian for ensuring that the event went smoothly, and to Trish Nicholson and her leadership class for volunteering to score keep and run the concession stand.
We would also like to thank our sponsors:
The Province of BC
McRoberts Secondary School
Panago Pizza
PriceSmart Foods
Purdy’s Chocolate
Subway
SportChek
Thank you to everyone who took part! We’ll see you next year!
