Reed talks about his journey from growing up in Sherwood Park and discovering wheelchair basketball and his World Championships experience in this month’s Athlete Spotlight presented by Toyota

I was born in Red Deer, lived in Blackfalds for the first two years, and then moved to Sherwood Park. Sherwood Park is not as big as Edmonton, but it doesn’t feel like a small city at the same time. We’re close enough to Edmonton to get the big city feel.

I was born without the fibula in my left leg; the condition is called fibular hemimelia. When I was four, my parents decided to amputate my foot because my leg was shorter; I had to wear a brace and a large heel in my shoe, so it made it easier to wear a prosthesis.

I was a big sports fan growing up. Sports is what my life revolved around. I always watched hockey or football. I played baseball, and snowboarding was big for me. I played stand-up hockey as well. I’ve always been a big Oilers and Elks fan.

I have a younger brother; he is four-and-a-half years younger than me. It’s a typical brother relationship – we used to fight, and now we get along just fine. He’s going into Grade 11 this fall.

Introduction to sport

I was first introduced to sports when I was five or six years old – I played stand-up ice hockey and baseball.

My introduction to adaptive sport came because my mom found it and convinced me to try it. I tried it and decided to stick with it. Sledge hockey was the first parasport I tried, and I also participated in para-snowboarding.

I went to a para-athlete search in Calgary about seven years ago and that’s where I met coach Darrell Nordel – he invited me out to a wheelchair basketball practice. I went and tried wheelchair basketball and have stuck with it ever since.

My mom always played basketball when she was younger – she played in high school and university, so I have basketball in my genes. I also liked the chair contact.

Realizing potential in Wheelchair Basketball

I went to Japan in 2019 for the Kitakyushu Champions Cup – my first big international wheelchair basketball tournament. At that point in my life, I’d only been to the United States, so that was phenomenal. I was very thankful I got to go.

That opportunity sold me on pursuing the game further. I had heard stories from veteran wheelchair basketball athletes about how they’d travelled to many countries. I thought it’d be cool to get a list of countries visited going like that.

The 2019 Canada Games in Red Deer was a big tournament for me, with the tournament being at home. The gold medal game really stands out for me from those Games. I had a rough tournament and didn’t play the greatest, but then in the gold medal game, I stepped up and played one of my best games at the time.

Between winning gold at the Canada Games and being named Junior Athlete of the Year, it made me think I should put in the extra effort and see how far the game could take me.

Building an International Resume

I played with the Senior Men’s National Team at the 2022 Americas Cup in Sao Paulo, Brazil. That was my first experience with the senior team; it was a really cool experience. The fact that we brought home the bronze and qualified for the World Championships – it was an excellent first senior team experience.

Brazil was a good learning experience and helped me take my game to the next level. I got more minutes than I expected when I was first named to the team and the extra minutes I got taught me a lot.

The fact that coach Matteo Feriani kept putting me into the games gave me quite a bit of confidence and helped my game improve.

The Under-23 World Championships was cool to see that many different countries and that good of competition at one tournament. There were more teams than in Kitakyushu, which was great to see.

That tournament was a bit of a measuring stick because we didn’t know how other countries developed during the pandemic. I didn’t know what the competition would be like.

Attending UTA

I spent last year at the University of Texas at Arlington. Vincent Dallaire put my name forward, and I went down there for the year.

On the court, it was an excellent experience; I got to play five days a week, had an open court, didn’t have to go far – it was right next door. The high reps were good for my game and staying in shape.

Off the court, it was cool to experience university life. It’s different than high school. Not being in school for two-and-a-half years, three years, was a long time. It took a little bit of time to get used to it. I studied general studies.

First Worlds Experience

My first World Championships experience in Dubai was pretty sweet. It was very hot there. It was an opportunity to see a different lifestyle.

It was a high level of basketball on the court – watching it and playing in it. It was a lot of aggressive contact – it’s kind of what I thrive for. It was fun. There’s not a lot of times you get to play really aggressively and grind on chairs, so that was a whole new look at the game for me.

Advice for new athletes

Give it a shot, don’t be afraid, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.