Youth movement ignites veterans for 2018-19 Para ice hockey season
CALGARY – When Team Canada gets back into action on Sunday December 2 at the Canadian Tire Para Hockey Cup in London, Ont., there’ll be several new faces but also some familiar ones such as forward Billy Bridges and Tyler McGregor.
With those established veterans setting the tone, don’t expect Canada to take its foot off the gas pedal in a post-Paralympic Games season. The plan is pretty much to rebuild and win at the same time, even with nine new players in the line-up from the squad that was iced in PyeongChang.
Coach Spotlight: Staying at the forefront key to success for Jean-Sébastien Labrie
CALGARY – In Vancouver, his troops collected 13 of Canada’s 19 medals. Four years later in Sochi, it was an eight medal haul out of 16. The parade to the podium continued in PyeongChang this past March with 10 more medals.
We are talking about Canada’s amazing Para alpine ski team. The architect for all this success is Jean-Sébastien Labrie, who has masterminded the Para alpine program for Alpine Canada since he took the head coaching helm in 2008.
Paralympic hopefuls post strong results at wheelchair tennis nationals
CALGARY – Rob Shaw and Thomas Venos, strong contenders to represent Canada next summer at the Lima 2019 Parapan Am Games, capped a successful weekend at the Birmingham National Wheelchair Tennis Championships on Sunday.
Taking place at the OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre in Calgary, the tournament brought together the nation’s best wheelchair tennis players.
Paralympian Search in Calgary shows athletes what they can do
One effect of Paralympian Search is turning around an ‘I can’t’ into ‘I can’.
After his injury, para athlete Shawn Lucas says his life was full of those negativities but sport is one of things that can that can help someone realize their many abilities, and ultimately opened so many doors for him. He wears a ‘Nothing is impossible’ tattoo on his bicep as a reminder.
Inaugural ParaTough Cup Vancouver a success
ParaTough Cup made a successful debut in Vancouver last Friday, raising a total of $55,000 for the development of parasport in Canada.
Emceed by Paralympic sit ski legend Josh Dueck and local CTV personality Sonia Beeksma at the Richmond Oval, participants got a taste of how tough parasport can be, rotating through six Paralympic sport-inspired challenges: sitting volleyball, wheelchair curling, a guided run, wheelchair sprint, wheelchair basketball, and Para ice hockey target shooting.
Four athletes elected to CPC Athletes’ Council
Three new members and a returning athlete have been elected to the Canadian Paralympic Committee’s Athletes’ Council following voting this past week.
Rob Armstrong (Ice Hockey), Jennifer Brown (Athletics), and Alison Levine (Boccia) were elected as new members of the council, while incumbent Tony Walby (Judo) was also selected for another term.
They will join current members Erica Gavel (Basketball), Kirk Schornstein (Alpine Skiing), and Ross Wilson (Cycling) to form the seven-member Athletes’ Council.
‘’Prove them wrong’’ – Schornstein sends message to participants at upcoming Paralympian Search
CALGARY – Para alpine skier Kirk Schornstein competed at three Paralympic Games in his successful high performance sport career.
If he had listened to his detractors, that stretch of being on a Canadian national team, travelling to some of the greatest mountains in the world, and participating at not one, not two but three of the globe’s great sport celebration events would have never happened.
Funds and fun at ParaTough Cup in Montreal
MONTREAL – Leading Canadian businesses, including Gold Sponsors of the event, Pfizer Canada and Petro-Canada, squared-off last Thursday (November 16, 2018) at the ParaTough Cup for the second time at McGill University in Montreal.
As was the case last year at the Montreal event, an impressive total of $93,000 was raised to support future Paralympic champions.
Paralympian Search Success Story: ‘’I never thought I could have been an elite athlete’’
CALGARY – Visually impaired cyclist Lowell Taylor knew he possessed athletic skills back in 2015 when he attended the Paralympian Search in Calgary. But that day steered his life in another direction which he hopes will lead to the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.
‘’I never thought I could have been an elite athlete,’’ said Taylor. ‘’But being able to connect through the Paralympian Search I was able to see I have potential. The professionalism I saw at this event made it clear they wanted to find people at the highest level who can compete.’’
Priscilla Gagné wins bronze at Para judo world championships
ODIVELAS, Portugal - Montreal’s Priscilla Gagné won the bronze medal Friday in women’s 52 kilos at the Para Judo World Championship for visually impaired.
The 32-year-old Paralympian ended her journey by winning by waza-ari against Uzbek Sevinch Salaeva. Ukrainian Inna Cherniak was crowned world champion against German Ramona Brussig and South Korean Song Nayeong stood next to Gagné on the podium’s third step.