Ben Hagkull grew up in a basketball family; however, competing in triathlons with his father began his love for sports.
Ben’s father, Brad Hagkull, came across the story of Rick and Dick Hoyt in 2005 – Rick, born with cerebral palsy, was competing in triathlons with his father Dick. Inspired by the Hoyts’ story, Brad passed it along to a six-year-old Ben Hagkull, who was immediately hooked on the idea.
“There was a lot of adaptations that had to be done, and the video kind of went viral,” Hagkull said of the first time he saw the story. “My dad happened to get a hold of it and showed it to me, and I said, ‘Dad, I want to do that.’ So that kind of sparked our passion for sport, and my parents are really supportive in what I’ve wanted to do in my life.”
The father and son competed in more than a dozen triathlons together before Ben, born with spina bifida, got too big for the father-son duo to compete any longer.
“My dad and I kind of just dove head-first into it. He said, ‘OK, well, if you want to do it, we will.’ Fourteen triathlons later, I got a little bit too big for him pushing me around or towing me in a raft, so I transitioned on to Wheelchair Basketball,” said Hagkull.
‘Have a Go Week’
With triathlons on the backburner, Hagkull turned his attention to the court.
The Chilliwack, B.C. native was originally introduced to Wheelchair Basketball as a seven-year-old at a ‘Have a Go Week’ event in his home province. The two days of Wheelchair Basketball over the course of a weekend was enough to turn Hagkull on to the sport.
“As soon as I got into the Wheelchair Basketball chair and started pushing around, I felt really free, and I’m a fairly quick guy, and that kind of started from Day 1,” Hagkull said. “It was really exciting to push around and be beating everybody in a race, and that’s how I got started.”
The high-paced, competitive nature of Wheelchair Basketball led Hagkull to stick with the sport and improve his game.
“I love just being around people who push me every day,” he said. “Being able to execute something at a really high level is just really rewarding, and I like all the contact as well; even though I’m not maybe the biggest guy, it presents another challenge for me, and that’s what I enjoy.”
A passion for photography
Off the court, Hagkull’s biggest passion is photography.
The scenic backdrop of B.C.’s Fraser Valley – surrounded by mountains and lakes – provided him with ample material to shoot.
Hagkull first picked up a camera five years ago after being encouraged by his friend Zack.
“For me, I was kind of looking at what kinds of photos he was taking, and I always wondered, ‘How do I get to that point?’” Hagkull recalled. “Anybody can pick up a camera and take a photo, but it might not be the greatest photo. I think there’s always that sense of wanting to improve with me, even with photography, and so I try to pick up a camera as much as I can and take photos.”
The 22-year-old recently graduated to Canon’s mirrorless system purchasing an EOS R3, and is hoping to move away from strictly landscape photography to add more people to his photos.
“I think one thing that I’ve tried to incorporate over the past year is adding more people into my photos, so kind of blending the two to create more of a lifestyle genre,” Hagkull explained. “It makes photos a lot more interesting to have a subject in there.”
Hagkull’s interest in photography ultimately saw him enroll in the Visual Arts program at Camosun College in Victoria, B.C., where he is currently in his fourth year.
At the moment, Hagkull said he’s focused on freelance work and being a photographer for hire but has aspirations of joining the film industry in the future.
“Later down the road, working for some sort of media company, maybe working on movies, movie sets or working as part of a company as maybe an editor, a photo or video editor – working with brands that way,” said Hagkull of his goals.