The key to recruiting is getting them in the chair, according to the Edmonton coach
With over 25 years of coaching experience at the club, provincial and national levels, Darrell Nordell is no stranger to recruiting new athletes. But, according to the Edmonton native, getting the athlete on the court for the first time is the most challenging aspect of the process.
“To get them to the court first and introduce them to other athletes—that’s probably the hardest thing that any coach across Canada will say domestically, is recruiting new athletes,” Nordell explained. “If we can get that hook into them, and they come out at least once to try it, we get them coming out at least two or three more times, then I know we’re probably going to keep them unless something drastically changes with their work or home or school.”
Nordell is the head coach of the Canadian men’s Under-23 program, Alberta’s Canada Winter Games team, and the Edmonton Inferno women’s program.
The key is to get the athlete on the court multiple times, said Nordel, who has been coaching Wheelchair Basketball since 1994.
“If we can get them two or three times, we pretty much got that hook in them, and they’re going to stay because they enjoy the sport, the complexity of the sport, which I enjoy most about it, but they also enjoy the other athletes,” Nordell said.
The selling point in Nordell’s experience is the chair itself.
“Everybody wants to sit in the chair,” he said. “Whether they’re a disabled athlete trying a wheelchair basketball chair—how fast they can move and turn, or an able-bodied athlete just sitting watching a move.
“Then the athlete is watching other players on the court, and how they can move that chair, and they’re just amazed. A guy like Reed De’Aeth has only played for five-and-a-half, six years, but look how good he is already in those five years.”
Nordell was introduced to Wheelchair Basketball during the 1994 World Championships, which took place in Edmonton. He was running the school education awareness program with the Alberta Northern Lights Wheelchair Basketball Society at the time, and it sparked his interest to begin playing.
Nordell credits Barbra Griffin, who was working at the ‘94 World Championships, for getting him in the chair and playing.
“She knew that I had played stand-up sports and said, ‘Why don’t you start playing wheelchair basketball?’ So I played for eight years, locally and provincially, and then just started getting more involved in coaching,” Nordell said. “I was really intrigued with the game, how it played both basketball but also have to push a chair at the same time, and it was really challenging.”
After he began playing, Ron McKay and Steve Bach suggested Nordell start coaching.
With nearly 30 years of coaching experience on his resume, the 53-year-old said he most enjoys the technical and strategy aspect of coaching and the relationship-building component.
“I was learning the game and coaching at the same time. Within the first two to three years, I was playing and coaching. The reason why I enjoy coaching the U23 juniors so much is because that’s where kind of where my first start was, coaching the Alberta Northern Lights junior team,” he said. “I really enjoy that part of how a game plays out strategy-wise. I also really enjoy, and I think that’s an asset I have, is building relationships with athletes, and I think especially being a junior coach, you really have to be able to build relationships. I think that’s one of my strong assets.”
Nordell has been involved with Canada’s national teams since 2004 and was a part of Marc Antoine Ducharme’s staff on the women’s team at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo last summer.
As coach of the Under-23 men’s team, Nordell said he enjoys watching the athletes go through the recruitment and development process and having coach Matteo Feriani call to invite the athlete to the senior program.
“That’s something I enjoy: watching the athletes from when I first see them, whether it’s through Canada Winter Games or a junior regional camp that we have, and then watching them when they get the invite from Matteo to go to a national team camp,” said Nordell who has been to four Paralympic Games as a coach. “To me, it’s like, ‘Okay, we’ve got to a point now where they’re now being recognized by Matteo and the rest of the senior staff,’ so it feels good that I’ve helped them along that journey.”
Nordell most recently coached Edmonton Team 1 to a gold medal victory at the inaugural 3-on-3 competition at the Women’s National Championship Festival in April.
Coaching in the 3-on-3 tournament gave Nordell an opportunity to assess talent for next year’s Canada Winter Games.
“I had a group with one senior girl on the team, Jayna Doll, who was with me at Canada Games in 2019, but three fairly young girls after that,” said Nordell. “It’s the same thing as seeing those athletes that get recruited to go the national team—seeing how far those girls have come in the short little bit of time that they’ve been playing wheelchair basketball and the smiles on their face. And then just knowing that the 2023 Canada Winter Games is less than a year away, and they’re all eligible to play in those games.”
Off the court, Nordell is the Neighbourhood Resource Coordinator for the City of Edmonton, where he oversees community development.