Canadian women’s team building identity towards the 2026 IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championships

OTTAWA – Three-time Paralympian Arinn Young says the Canadian women’s team is building its identity as it continues its preparations for the 2026 IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championships, taking place September 9–19 in Ottawa.

Both the women’s and men’s squads competed this past weekend at the Nations Cup in Cologne, Germany. The Canadian teams for the world championships were officially announced on Monday.

‘’Canada is always known for being incredibly physical,’’ said Young, 30, from St. Albert, Alta. on Wheelchair Basketball Canada’s Instagram account. ‘’So that’s what we’re trying to implement more, being physical on chairs.’’

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Young also credited head coach Joey Johnson with helping the group maintain its focus as it works towards its home worlds. Johnson, a triple Paralympic Games champion as a player, took the helm of the women’s team in May after leading the British men’s squad to silver at the 2024 Paralympics.

‘’Joey is really good at keeping us calm,’’ Young said. ‘’He lets us focus on the process even if we win or lose.’’

With three weeks until tip-off, Young and her teammates are pumped to display their amazing skills to a home crowd.

‘’I’m literally looking forward to Ottawa, because I want to be able to just show them what Canada is capable of.’’

Two-time Paralympian Puisand Lai says the Nations Cup also provided Canada an opportunity to identify problem areas and then put those adjustments into action against quality opponents.

‘’It’s good to see that we talked about it and executed,’’ said Lai. ‘’This time we’re identifying it and making the changes.’’

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At the Nations Cup, the Canadian women went 2-2. They opened with a 70-67 loss to Great Britain, then beat Germany 72-51, lost 82-76 to the Netherlands (the defending world and Paralympic champions), and finished with an 80-51 victory over the Germans for third place.

‘’These are really good teams to play against to work towards our goal and understand how to play with each other,’’ Lai added.

The Canadian women are looking for their first worlds podium since winning gold in 2014 when Toronto hosted the event. They placed fifth at the last two worlds in 2018 and 2022 and were fourth at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.

Mercy Nyakundi of Hamilton will be making her world championships debut in Ottawa and says the women’s team just keeps getting better and better after every practice and every game.

‘’We’ve made a lot of progress,’’ she said. ‘’We are definitely on a good path towards worlds and what we are trying to accomplish.’’

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After finishing fourth at the Paralympics, the Canadians are looking to build on that result when they play in front of a home crowd in Ottawa.

For ticket information: Ottawa 2026 IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championships