The 16-year-old is getting set to represent B.C. at the Women’s National Championship
Elise Froese was an avid stand-up basketball and volleyball athlete in school; however, by the time she reached Grade 7, the osteochondral defect (OCD) in her leg had progressed to the point she had to look for alternatives.
“I had a lot of issues with my leg, and a guy at my school was playing wheelchair basketball,” Froese recalled. “He invited me out to try the sport, and I stuck with it ever since then. The OCD has been affecting me for nine years—it’s basically crumbling bones in my leg.”
The potential in wheelchair basketball led the Victoria, B.C. native to give the game a chance.
“The amount of experiences and opportunities wheelchair basketball presented is what led me to stick with the game,” she said. “There is always something going on with the sport.”
Froese has already had a busy 2023 on the court.
In February, the 16-year-old won gold with Team BC at the Canada Winter Games in Charlottetown.
“It was a great experience. I think throughout it, I learned so much,” Froese explained. “I learned more in the last few months than I have over the last four years—and just bonding with my teammates—it was a great experience. I learned so much from both Junior Nationals and Canada Games.”
Team BC also won gold at the 2022 Junior Nationals in P.E.I.—a test event for the Canada Winter Games.
“I think after Junior Nationals, we kept improving on what we were working on and building our team bond,” said Froese. “I think everybody ramped up their training quite a few levels for Canada Games coming off of Junior Nationals.”
Froese was then one of 12 athletes to participate at the Women’s Under-25 camp in Toronto in March. It was an opportunity for her to work on her game and showcase her abilities for the WBC high performance staff tasked with selecting the roster for the 2023 Women’s U25 World Championship in Bangkok, Thailand (Oct. 3-9, 2023).
“It was so great—just being with a bunch of other girls that are out to play basketball, and also at a bit of a higher level, too,” Froese said. “It was a really great experience, and I learned a lot there too. It’s my goal to be on the U25 team. It’s definitely what I’m working towards.”
Froese added more hardware to her collection, helping Zone 6 win gold at the BC Winter Games. Froese scored 10 points as Zone 6, representing Vancouver Island and the Central Coast, defeated Zone 3 41-35 on March 25.
Froese hopes to help BC defend gold at the 2023 Women’s Nationals in Montreal next week. BC defeated Quebec 66-52 to take home the top prize at the Richmond Olympic Oval last year.
“I’m so excited. I’ve never been to Quebec before, so that’s going to be super exciting and a really great experience—an opportunity to play with some different athletes as well,” said Froese. “A little bit nervous about defending the title. Hopefully, going to come back with the gold again.”
Froese will also be a part of the BC Breakers squad at the CWBL Nationals next month in Richmond.
Off the court, the Grade 12 student plans to take a gap year after graduating high school. Froese plans to study pastoral theology at Summit Pacific College in Abbotsford, B.C.