What did you like best about playing at the 2009 Americas Cup?
“I had a great experience playing at the 2009 Americas Cup. With it being in my home province, my family was able to come down from Fort St John and watch the games. It is not very often that we have an event like this in Canada, so they all took advantage of it. It was also great to have it at the Richmond Olympic Oval so that spectators could see the venue as well.
Also, having the junior players from the lower mainland involved in the event was excellent. They had a mini-camp going on for part of the tournament. Giving them the opportunity to interact with the National Team players and see the sport played at its highest level will be something that we will both remember for a long time.
To answer the second part of your question: Players sit lower in their chairs for a couple of reasons. The first reason is based on the athlete’s [classification] and is specific to their disability. Lower class players (players whose disabilities are more limiting) will tend to sit lower. Because they usually have a lot less core muscle function, they can gain some stability by sitting lower.
The second reason is manoeuvrability. By sitting lower in the chair athletes can gain some advantages in their ability to move and control their chairs. The trade-off here is that they lose some of their height.
The other noticeable discrepancy between chairs is the angle or camber of the wheels. Players will typically use between 15-20 degrees of camber in their chairs. More camber allows the chair to turn faster, but it can make it a bit unstable. So depending on an athlete’s disability and the position played, they may want less camber so that they are more stable.”