Story 37: Wheelchair Tennis

Though wheelchair tennis has always been popular in BC, it's experienced an even greater resurgence in the past year. Our province is already home to some of Canada's greatest wheelchair tennis athletes; in fact, three BC athletes (Sarah Hunter, Yuka Chokyu and Paul Johsnon) hold Canadian records for the longest consecutive championship titles and have represented Canada at several Paralympics.

Most recently, however, BCWSA and Bridging the Gap have been working to increase developmental opportunities for local athletes. Wheelchair tennis has been the focus of several "Have a Go" days and a new recreational league has begun across the Lower Mainland. (To see this league in action, check out our Developmental video here). In today's photo slideshow, we pay tribute to past champions while looking ahead to our future.

Profile: Paul Johnson

Victoria athlete Paul Johnson began wheelchair sports as a track athlete. After representing Canada at the 1988 Paralympics, however, he turned his attention to wheelchair tennis and began a record-breaking career. From 1991 to 2000, Johnson won the Canadian national singles championships nine times. His winning streak from 1991 - 1998 still stands as Canada's longest. He was also the doubles champion from 1993 - 2000. On the national stage, Paul represented Canada at three Paralympics and two World Team Cups. He was named BCWSA's Athlete of the Year in 2000.

Check out our wheelchair tennis slideshow below:

Story 36: Wheelchair Basketball

It's no secret why wheelchair basketball has appeared in several "40 Years. 40 Stories. 40 Days" stories already. BC has long been a powerhouse in the sport and the province is home to championship coaches like Tim Frick , teams like the Vancouver Cable Cars, and more athletes than you can name. Though wheelchair basketball is now administered through the BC Wheelchair Basketball Society, our two organizations work in close partnership.

Today, we take a look back at wheelchair basketball across the past 40 years in BC. We also profile BC athlete Peter Colistro.

Profile: Peter Colistro

In addition to being a track star, Pete Colistro is a talented wheelchair basketball player who served on the Canadian national team for many years with the likes of Rick Hansen, Murray Brown, John Lundie and Chris Samis. He was also a starter on the Vancouver Cable Cars during their peak years. Off the court, Pete gave back to the sport as a founding director of the BC Wheelchair Basketball Society. After an absence from the wheelchair basketball community, Pete recently came out of retirement and, along with Joe Higgins, resurrected the Vancouver Cable Cars to play in the Division 2 CWBL - Open League. Last week, the Cable Cars finished second (behind Victoria) and Pete was named tournament MVP.


Here is a slideshow of wheelchair basketball in action:

Story 35: BCWSA and the Silver Screen

When BCWSA started in 1971, most people didn't know that wheelchair sports even existed unless they had a friend or family member who played. Those days, however, are long past us. In recent years, wheelchair sports have made their way into the mass media thanks to documentaries like "Murderball" and TV shows like "Friday Night Lights" and (most recently) "Fringe." Today, we profile several occasions where BCWSA has had its 15 minutes of fame . We even go behind-the-scenes at the taping of "Fringe," where several BC wheelchair rugby athletes (including Duncan Campbell and ref Kevin Bowie) appeared in an episode (Season 3, episode 15).

Murderball

"Murderball" is perhaps the most famous wheelchair sports documentary. It was nominated for a 2006 Academy Award and launched wheelchair rugby into the spotlight. Since then, the sport has appeared in several other films and television shows, including "Jackass" and "Friday Night Lights." While most people in the wheelchair sports community are familiar with "Murderball" and know that it features BC athletes Garett Hickling and Ian Chan, few people know that many scenes were actually filmed at the Vancouver Invitational Wheelchair Rugby Tournament and feature several local athletes, fans and supporters in the background. You can see wheelchair rugby (and Ian and Garett) live at this year's Vancouver Invitational, which will take place from March 26 - 28.

Can't Stop, Won't Stop

This 2009 documentary produced by OMNI follows Canadian captain Ian Chan leading up to the 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships. The documentary focuses on Ian Chan's work ethic -- the title comes from the mantra he repeats to himself during training -- and the role that his mentor Duncan Campbell played in the creation of this uniquely Canadian sport.

Fringe

Tonight, the TV show "Fringe" will air an episode that features wheelchair rugby. Since "Fringe" is filmed in BC, local athletes, refs and coaches were invited to be part of the shoot. BCWSA was given permission to go behind the scenes -- we'll even be part of the official "Fringe" behind-the-scenes DVD -- and film the following video blog. We've got teasers for tonight's episode, interviews with the BCWSA members featured in the episode and even an interview with Alan Ruck (of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" fame), who shares his thoughts about wheelchair rugby with social media coordinator Arley McNeney.

Story 34: Athletics

We've already heard how the WC Race Series and various developmental programs make it easier for today's wheelchair racers to excel. Even without these programs, however, BC has produced several talented para-athletics athletes in its 40+ years. In fact, the wheelchair racing program in BC gave rise to Canada's two most famous disabled athletes: Terry Fox and Rick Hansen.

Today, Paralympic wheelchair racers like Michelle Stilwell and Kelly Smith call BC home and there are many up-and-coming athletes training hard every day to make it on an international stage. Field events are also gaining in popularity thanks to the recent purchase of specialized equipment. And though BCWSA only sent one athlete to the recent IPC Athletics World Championships, developmental programs and initiatives like Bridging the Gap are ensuring that there will be more in the future.

Profile - Michelle Stilwell

Michelle "Mikey" Stilwell started her career as a wheelchair basketball player. She represented Canada at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics in wheelchair basketball, winning gold and becoming the first quadriplegic woman to do so. When she was forced to retire from wheelchair basketball for medical reasons, she made a move into wheelchair racing and her golden career continued. At the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, Mikey won gold and broke Paralympic records in both the 100 and 200m sprints. At the recent IPC World Championships in New Zealand, Mikey brought home three gold medals and one silver and broke three world championship records! Mikey lives in Nanoose Bay with her husband and her son Kai.

Here is a slideshow of wheelchair athletics in BC over the years:

Story 33: Wheelchair Rugby

Today on "40 Years, 40 Stories, 40 Days," we begin a series of profiles on individual BCWSA member sports and the athletes, coaches and builders who have impacted that sport's development in BC. We're starting with wheelchair rugby.

Even though "murderball" was born in Manitoba, BC has been a powerhouse for much of its history. In fact, Team BC has won the Canadian national championships an incredible 16 times in 32 years. This winning record has no doubt been thanks to celebrated BC athletes like Garett Hickling and Ian Chan and coaches like Adam Frost and Marty Rush.

With new programs starting every year -- Squamish and Nanaimo are the most recent clubs to get on board -- there are more and more opportunities for today's wheelchair rugby players across the province.

Profile: Duncan Campbell

Though Duncan Campbell is from Manitoba, he moved to BC in the 1980s and has been a driving force in the wheelchair rugby community ever since. This makes sense, since he's one of the founders of murderball and is known as the "Quadfather." Through his work at GF Strong and Bridging the Gap, Duncan has introduced countless athletes to wheelchair rugby. You'd be hard-pressed to find a BC wheelchair rugby athlete who doesn't count Duncan as one of the reasons he or she either got involved in the sport or stayed involved. Duncan is also active in the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation, ensuring that the sport remains on the right track as it develops around the world.

Below, we've created a slideshow of some of the best wheelchair rugby shots from around BC. You can also see some more great wheelchair rugby images in our story on the 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships:

Story 32: Athlete Development

Paralympians are made, not born. One of our goals here at BCWSA is to give every athlete a chance to develop to his or her full potential, whether that athlete wants to win a gold medal or just keep fit.

In the past, developing athletes sometimes had a tough time breaking in to a sport. Brand new playes were often thrown into a practice with Paralympians to either sink or swim. In some regions, players couldn't even find a team to play on and didn't have access to adequate equipment or coaching.

Today, however, we're working to change that. Through some exciting new programs, we're giving developing athletes a chance to learn their sport alongside other athletes of a similar level of experience. Whether you're someone with a newly acquired spinal cord injury trying wheelchair rugby for the first time or a retired wheelchair tennis athlete from one of the regions looking to get back into the game, we want to give you a positive sport experience.

The following video takes a look at just some of the new developmental programs that exist around the province.

Vote in Our "Best of BCWSA" Photo Contest: A Facebook Primer

There's a little over a week left in the "Best of BCWSA" Photo Contest and the contestants need your help to win. Many of the 35 great entries are neck-in-neck to win one of three great prize packages consisting of cash and BCWSA merchandise. Remember: it's not too late to submit an entry of your own. Just email your favourite wheelchair sports photo to arley@bcwheelchairsports.com.

Since the photo competition is being run through our Facebook page, we've prepared a step-by-step guide to help you vote in the contest. If you have any other questions, just email arley@bcwheelchairsports.com.

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Step 1: Log In To Your Facebook Account

Go to www.facebook.com and log in with your email account and password. If you don't have a Facebook account, there's an easy sign-up option on the page.

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Step 2: Go to Our Facebook Page

To go to our Facebook page, you can either visit www.facebook.com/bcwsa or go to the top of the page on your Facebook account and begin to type in "BC Wheelchair Sports" in the white rectangle. The page should appear in the drop-down menu below like so:

Click on "BC Wheelchair Sports Association (BCWSA)" and you should be taken to our page.

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Step 3: "Like" Us.

In order to vote, you must first become a fan of our page. To do so, go to the top of our page and click on the "like" button.

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Step 4: Go to the Contest Photo Album

There are two ways to access the Contest Photo Album. You can either go to this link or else go to our page and click on "Photos" like so:

This should pull up the following page:

Click on the album that says "Best of BCWSA Photo Contest Entries."

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Step 5: Vote!

When you visit the contest album, you'll see this window with all the entries:

To begin voting, just click on one of the photos. The slideshow will appear like this:

To vote, click on "like." You can also leave a comment by clicking on "comment." The contestant will get one point for each "like" and one for each unique comment. To see more photos, just click the arrows on either side of the photo. You can vote for as many photos as you'd like.

And that's it!