• 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.