On September 22nd, as part of SportZ Etravaganza faciliated by Pacific Sport Northern BC in conjunction with Sports Day in Canada, the BCWBS Northern Program brought a wheelchair basketball experience to the Fort St. John residents.
Coach Avril and Program Coordinator Nancy were able to use two full size gyms at North Peace Secondary School. One for Wheelchair Basketball, and one for the "Let's Play" open gym. There were appx. 30 plus participants ongoing through out the day. The press was there in full presentation with articles and video footage coming.
They were able to leave 12 chairs on loan from the Prince George Titans in the community to facilitate a school basketball league, and while the chairs are in each school, they will be used in as many physical activities as possible before they are rotated to the next school. Pacific Sport will distributing them as required.
There is an active group that have started fund raising towards the goal of $30,000.00 to buy the first 12 chairs to be used in schools across the Fort St. John school district. The large goal will be to have two sportwheelchairs in each school.
They are in the final stage of developing a secondary school class that will be trained to repair and maintain wheelchairs and other basic medical equipment. This will create sustainability of the equipment.
A number of activities/events are happening in Northen BC now to bring awareness for wheelchair sports and for the 2015 Canada Winter Games so watch for them in 2015!
