April a milestone month for women’s Para sport in Canada

OTTAWA – A new Para ice hockey tournament is set to get underway later this week and the first wheelchair rugby nationals are scheduled late April in a big month for women’s Para sport.

Both Para ice hockey and wheelchair rugby are considered mixed sports at the Paralympic level, but teams are still predominantly male. For the past few years, a strong movement has been building in both sports to have a separate women’s category and persistence is paying off with national and international competitions this month.

This Friday to Sunday (April 10-12), the inaugural Frontier Series between Canada and the USA in women’s Para ice hockey takes place in Ottawa.

The series marks the first meeting between the two powerhouses since they clashed in the gold medal game at the first-ever Women’s Para Ice Hockey World Championships in Dolný Kubín, Slovakia, won by the Americans last August.

All games will be held at the Richcraft Sensplex Arena (813 Shefford Rd.) with free admission for spectators, offering a unique opportunity for the community to experience elite women’s Para ice hockey up close.

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This series also comes at a pivotal time for the sport, as the global women’s Para ice hockey community continues to advocate for inclusion in the 2030 Paralympic Winter Games.

‘’After that gold medal game at the worlds, the IPC president (Andrew Parsons) gave us all a speech about the IPC being committed to this,’’ said team captain Christina Picton, also a two-time Paralympian in Para nordic skiing. ‘’We have some tangible things we need to achieve. But we’re on track.’’

The inaugural Women’s Wheelchair Rugby National Championship will be held April 24-26 as part of the annual Défi sportif AlterGo, a major adaptive sport event that brings together more than 6,000 athletes competing across 15 sports.

“It’s important to lay the groundwork for women’s wheelchair rugby,’’ said team member Mélanie Labelle.  ‘’The athletes are motivated, so it’s important to make it available to them.”

Meanwhile, in another major step forward for women’s Para sport, the first women’s wheelchair rugby world championships are set for this December in Paris. Last year a World Cup event was also held in the French capital and Canada took third place.

That Canadian team included Labelle and Brianna Hennessy, a Paralympic Games medallist in Para canoe at the 2024 Paralympic Games.

Other events on the April schedule for Canadian Para athletes include the Canadian Wheelchair Basketball League Finals in Edmonton April 16-19, the second stop on the Para cycling road World Cup circuit April 28 to May 1 in Middelkerke, Belgium and the Japan Championships in wheelchair rugby April 30 -May 3.

The Défi Sportif will also host the wheelchair curling nationals in Boucherville, Que. April 27-May 2 and a boccia World Cup in Montreal April 27 to May 3.