Lee chronicles his journey from growing up in Etobicoke playing baseball, his accident and finding wheelchair basketball in this month’s Athlete Spotlight presented by Toyota

Growing up in Toronto was great; I had a good family. My older brother, my parents, and I lived in a bungalow in Etobicoke. I had a great group of friends and spent a lot of time biking around the neighbourhood and playing sports. It was great.

The main sports I played growing up were basketball, baseball and football. Baseball was the main one in my younger years because my dad is a huge baseball fan. I was a pitcher and outfielder and sometimes played first base. In football, I was a tight end and receiver.

I grew up going to Blue Jays games at SkyDome. My dad would get 500-level tickets – it was quite cheap, and the four of us would get up there, and you could barely see anything, but it was still an incredible time. My favourite memory of going to Jays games was trying to catch foul balls and seeing them come from 400 feet in the air, and I could see how big the field was and how fast the ball was moving.

However, as I got older, I started enjoying basketball more and was pushing my parents to get more involved in basketball. Eventually, my brother stuck with baseball, and I focused more on basketball.

My brother and I were extremely competitive when it came to sports. Once we got a basketball hoop in our driveway – almost every day we’d played one-on-one. The games would often end in either a fight or losing the ball on the road, so it was pretty intense.

The accident

I got hurt while working. I was cleaning eavestroughs and windows, and it was just a freak accident on a ladder, and that’s how I got hurt. I have a spinal cord injury – T-10 level.

I was introduced to wheelchair basketball through my recreational therapist at Lyndhurst, the rehabilitation centre I was at in Toronto. Then I went out to Variety Village and met Steve Bialowas, the coach at the time. I had a little shoot-around, and I loved it and have gone to practice ever since.

I tried wheelchair tennis on my own, just playing with friends and then at Lyndhurst as well, somebody brought in a sledge – I was too big to fit in, so, unfortunately, didn’t get to try it out, but I did get to try some other adaptive sports.

Attending the University of Missouri

I transferred from Ryerson University to the University of Missouri in January. I am majoring in chemical engineering at Mizzou. I’m in a mix between Year 2 and Year 3, depending on how all my course credits transfer. I have between two and three years left. I got into chemical engineering because I was always a math and science guy. I enjoyed those subjects in high school, and I like to know how things work and how they function.

At this point, I’m keeping my options open in terms of a career path, but I am also interested in food and nutrition, so perhaps a career in that area.

Colin Higgins recruited me to attend Mizzou with him. Colin first let me know that he’d be interested in getting me over to play for Mizzou a year before I decided to attend. Then as the year went on and through Tokyo, it started getting more serious. Colin talked to me; I applied and then got accepted. Then I started talking to coach Ron Lykins, and it seemed like a fit.

It’s a good school, for sure, academics-wise, too, so that greatly influenced my decision. They have a good engineering program, and then Ron, who is the coach of the men’s U.S. team, is also at Mizzou, so it’s good to learn from another coach at such a high, competitive level.

This is my first time living outside of Toronto. I have spent weeks at a time in different places but never completely lived in a different city. The experience of living on my own has been great. It was a lot to adjust to at first, but I am getting used to managing my time with classes and training, as well as housekeeping and ordinary things that happen daily.

First Paralympic experience

The biggest takeaway from Tokyo is that I want to feel that experience again. It was just incredible being on the court there. The adrenaline rush of that first game was something I’ve never experienced before. Also, the community and how much effort went into building such a massive event was incredible.

Advice for new athletes

I’d say just get out there and start playing. Enjoy the sport and have fun. Look at yourself and see what you want to improve, and then once you’re enjoying it, you can focus on little aspects you want to improve. But first, make sure you love the game.