Checking in with Paralympians: Coaches and athletes honoured

Canada’s Paralympians are staying busy, getting back to training, sharing their stories and opinions on social media, and more. We will check in regularly with what the nation’s Para athletes have been up to and share some of the top highlights here. 

Here’s a quick look at some recent updates: 

Para athlete coaches grabbed 11 of 23 Coaching Association of Canada Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Awards awarded last week during the organization’s annual Leadership Conference. The winners included:

Heather Hennigar, Para athletics
Richard Wooles, Para cycling
Wayne Kiel, Wheelchair curling
Eric Kramer, Para swimming
Ken Hall, Para athletics
Marc-André Pelletier, Para swimming
Nicholas Perron, Para swimming
Guillaume Plourde, Para cycling
Mike Thompson, Para swimming
Sébastien Travers, Para cycling
Leonard Roxon, Para swimming

Watch the entire ceremony

The CAC and @PetroCanada are thrilled to recognize 23 outstanding coaches with the prestigious Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Awards!

Watch our Awards Gala LIVE here: https://t.co/AFfxjZ23H4 pic.twitter.com/a6BW3x2qU8

— Coach.ca (@CAC_ACE) November 6, 2020

Here are two salutes from the athletes to their winning coaches:
Nathan Riech: 

So proud of my coach, congrats @heatherhennigar !@petrocanada @AthleticsCanada @viccityelite pic.twitter.com/tWKGDHBfZE

— Nate Riech (@NateGraywolf) November 6, 2020

Katarina Roxon:

Congrats to @LeonardRoxon, My dad and coach, for winning the Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Award!
@petrocanada @SwimmingNL @CDNParalympics @SwimmingCanada @Para_swimming @CBCNL @NTVNewsNL #TeamRoxon pic.twitter.com/7qadESRAMq

— Katarina Roxon (@Katarina_Roxon) November 6, 2020

Meanwhile AthletesCAN recently announced its newly elected board members and they include national team Para swimmer Camille Bérubé. National wheelchair basketball team member Bo Hedges was also re-elected to the board for a second term.  

Un honneur de faire partie de la grande famille @AthletesCAN! And a truly humbling experience to be selected on the Board of Directors for the next 3 years. J’ai tellement hâte à ce qui s’en vient! Thank you to all members who put their trust in me https://t.co/vtVYUkKW61

— Camille Bérubé (@CamBrub) October 26, 2020

Para ice hockey players Kieran Block and Cody Dolan were featured on Global News Edmonton for their mentorship program through Classroom Champions.

When @kieranhc23 was a @CDNParalympics Paralympian, he knew what it took to dream big. Now he’s passing those lessons along as a teacher with the help of national team member @Cody_Dolan17.

Here’s how they’re fostering the generation of leaders https://t.co/G50L61cR3M

— Classroom Champions (@ClassroomChamps) November 4, 2020