11 women and 12 men will represent Canada at the qualifier in Brazil
Wheelchair Basketball Canada is pleased to announce the 23 athletes selected to represent Team Canada at the 2022 Americas Cup in São Paulo, Brazil.
The Canadian men’s and women’s teams will compete at the Americas Cup qualifier from July 13-18 at the Brazilian Paralympic Training Site. The Americas Cup will serve as the qualifier for the IWBF World Championships in November (Nov. 16-27, 2022) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The top three women’s teams and the top four men’s teams will earn the right to represent the IWBF Americas in Dubai.
“Both teams have put in a tremendous amount of work over the past nine months in preparation for the Americas Cup qualifier,” said Jeff Dunbrack, High Performance Director, Wheelchair Basketball Canada. “The mix of on-court practice time and games have both our teams ready and prepared to qualify for the World Championships in Dubai.”
The women’s team, which features nine returning athletes that placed fifth at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics last summer, will play in Group B against Brazil, Bolivia, and Guatemala.
“This team is prepared and ready to build off last summer’s performance in Tokyo,” said Senior Women’s National Team Head Coach Marc Antoine Ducharme. “With a strong returning group and a couple of new faces, our team chemistry is strong, and the athletes are ready to perform in Brazil.”
On the men’s side, Team Canada has nine returning athletes that were part of the eighth-place team at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. The men’s team will play in Group B against Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico.
“Our team has been hard at work preparing for the qualifier,” said Senior Men’s National Team Head Coach Matteo Feriani. “With some new faces in the mix for Brazil, we are continuing to build chemistry within the group. I am confident in this team’s ability to qualify for Worlds.”
Team Canada’s men’s and women’s games will be streamed on the CBBC TV YouTube channel and the IWBF Facebook page. The complete schedule can be found here.
Women’s Roster:
Arinn Young (Legal, Alta.)
Aurélie Jacob-Verreault (Lévis, Que.)
Cindy Ouellet (Quebec City, Que.)
Danielle Duplessis (Fredericton, N.B.)
Élodie Tessier (Saint-Germain de Grantham, Que.)
Kady Dandeneau (Pender Island, B.C.)
Melanie Hawtin (Oakville, Ont.)
Sandrine Bérubé (Beauharnois, Que.)
Sofia Fassi-Fehri (Montreal, Que.)
Tara Llanes (North Vancouver, B.C.)
Tamara Steeves (Mississauga, Ont.)
Women’s Coaches:
Marc Antoine Ducharme (Chambly, Que.) – Senior Women’s Head Coach
Marni Abbott-Peter (Vancouver, B.C.) – Assistant Coach
Karla Tritten (Edmonton, Alta.) – Assistant Coach
Men’s Roster:
Blaise Mutware (Toronto, Ont.)
Ben Hagkull (Chilliwack, B.C.)
Chad Jassman (Calgary, Alta.)
Colin Higgins (Rothesay, N.B.)
Garrett Ostepchuk (Regina, Sask.)
Jesse Heubner (Kitchener, Ont.)
Lee Melymick (Toronto, Ont.)
Nik Goncin (Regina, Sask.)
Reed De’Aeth (Sherwood Park, Alta.)
Bo Hedges (Wonowon, B.C.)
Tyler Miller (Kitchener, Ont.)
Vincent Dallaire (Quebec City, Que.)
Men’s Coaches:
Matteo Feriani (Padova, Italy) – Senior Men’s Head Coach
Joey Johnson (Winnipeg, Man.) – Senior Men’s Assistant Coach
Nicolas Palmer (Laval, Que.) – Senior Men’s Assistant Coach
Additional Wheelchair Basketball Canada Support Staff:
Brett Nagata (Toronto, Ont.) – Senior Men’s Athletic Therapist & WBC Lead Therapist
Paul Murata (Toronto, Ont.) – Senior Women’s Athletic Therapist
Joe Leszner (Thornhill, Ont.) – Mental Performance Consultant
Dylan Carter (Toronto, Ont.) – Performance Analyst
Luke Vanderheyden (Hamilton, Ont.) – Physical Preparation Specialist
Colby Hathaway (Four Falls, N.B.) – Strength and Conditioning Coach
Jeff Dunback (Halifax, N.S.) – High Performance Director
Hailey Roll (Mississauga, Ont.) – High Performance Coordinator