Paralympic Games Notebook: Wheelchair rugby player Joel Ewert gets send-off celebration in Prince George

Joel Ewert is headed to his first Paralympic Games and in Prince George, B.C. it was a cause for a celebration.

Last Friday, the wheelchair rugby national team player was given a big send off at Canada Games Square. In 2015, Ewert competed for the province in wheelchair basketball when his hometown hosted the Canada Winter Games.

“It’s pretty cool to see everybody come out to this, a lot of different people from a lot of areas of my life, and it just puts into perspective how important it is to have a good support system and how many people have helped you along the way,” Ewert told the Prince George Citizen.

Local MLA Shirley Bond and MP Todd Doherty at City Hall were among the attendees.

“It’s a lot of hard work from him and it takes a village of family and friends supporting him,” said Ewert’s mother Bonita. “He has family in Vancouver, so whenever he went down there for tournaments, we would stay with them.

‘’All his hard work has paid off.’’

Radio-Canada mini-doc shows Alexandre Hayward’s journey to become a Paralympian after accident

In the opening sequence, Para cyclist Alexandre Hayward opens ‘’the box’’ for the first time in 10 years. That box is basically a time capsule for all the correspondence and information regarding his devastating accident in 2012. Hayward broke his neck in a AAA hockey game, just weeks before the QMJHL draft.

The memories are painful at times as they peruse his mother’s journal which updates his journey and recovery. Through dedication and incredible support, the story has a happy ending.

Hayward, from Quispamsis, N.B. competed at the 2022, 2023 and 2024 world championships earning silver on the track this past spring in the scratch race. He won four medals last year at the Parapan American Games.

The engineering graduate at the University of New Brunswick competes at his first Paralympic Games in Paris.

Watch the full mini-doc HERE.

Lance Cryderman returns to Paralympics for the first time in 24 years

Some classic rock musicians take 24 years to make an album, but for athletes to return to the highest level after that long an absence is truly incredible.

That’s the case with Canadian boccia player Lance Cryderman of Sudbury, Ont. He competed at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney. After retiring from the sport for 17 years to focus on studies and family, he returned in grand style and is now headed to Paris 2024.

“The biggest thing I can say is I’ve had 24 years to mature. I was a very young man when I went to my first Paralympics,’’ Cryderman, 43, told the Sudbury Star. ‘’People are telling me it’s going to be a different ballgame; it’s going to be different than what you had in 2000.

‘’I’m fully aware of that.’’

Cryderman has a master’s degree in business administration and works as an accessibility advisor at Laurentian University in Sudbury.

At Paris 2024, Cryderman is set to compete in the BC1 men’s individual tournament and will be joined on court by competition partner Nick Dunham. They won silver last year at the Parapan American Games in both singles and the team event.

“I’ve had really strong (sessions) with my coach over the last few months to go over the key elements that will help me be more successful,’’ he said.

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