The Oakville native will be part of Team Ontario at this weekend’s Junior National Championship
Rosie Long was first introduced to Parasport through sledge hockey; however, the possibility of playing in the Paralympics turned her into a Wheelchair Basketball player.
Long suffered a spinal cord injury in November 2016 when she was hit by a bus. As part of her rehabilitation process, Long was introduced to sledge hockey.
“At Holland Bloorview, one of the physiotherapists thought it’d be a fun sport to try,” Long explained. “So I tried that, and then my mom posted about it on Facebook, I think, and someone from the women’s team invited me to a try it out session, and then I just got into it from there.”
It was Facebook that helped put Wheelchair Basketball on Long’s radar as well.
Chris Chandler, a coach with the Burlington Vipers, heard about Long’s story in the news and reached out to her parents on the social media platform.
Long admits it took some convincing for her to try the sport.
“Chris reached out to my parents on Facebook and was like, ‘Rosie should come try wheelchair basketball,’” she recalled. “ I wasn’t really interested at first, I was playing sledge hockey, so I didn’t really want to play another sport.
“One day at recess, I was just bouncing a basketball, and it was just kind of fun. I figured I might as well try it. My parents went and talked to Chris, and I eventually joined the Vipers.”
The thought of representing Canada at a Paralympics in the future is ultimately what sold Long on Wheelchair Basketball.
“It was a fun, fast-paced game with strategy and teamwork, and those are all things I love. It’s a good sport that way,” she said. “The Paralympics was a really convincing factor. The Paralympics would be a pretty cool experience.”
According to Chandler, Long’s instincts set her apart from her peers.
“We teach players not to be defined by their classification,” said Chandler. “I would say she plays above her classification. She is a strong 1-1.5, but she plays above that. In addition, she has excellent instincts – stuff that none of us have taught her: she jumps the passing lanes.
“Most younger players, that are lower classification, will sit back and let the game come to them, but she attacks. She has no problem defending higher classification players. Instinctively, she’s one of the best I’ve ever seen, and she plays above her classification.”
The Oakville native, who was a horseback rider and gymnast before her accident, said she will continue to play sledge hockey more recreationally while her focus is on Wheelchair Basketball.
In March, the 15-year-old was invited to the women’s development camp in Toronto, an opportunity to learn from some of the more experienced athletes in the country.
“It was really cool getting to meet some of the older athletes – the more experienced athletes who have been playing longer,” she said. “They taught me a bunch of things. Marc Antoine Ducharme was really helpful with advice and everything, giving me pointers, and I feel like I learned a lot from it.”
Long will get an opportunity to showcase her skills when she represents Ontario at the Junior National Championship (June 10-12, 2022) in Charlottetown, P.E.I.
“I’m pretty excited. It’s going to be a really fun experience,” Long said. “ I’m looking forward to playing more competitive games with the team because we practice about once a month together.”
Off the court, Long is finishing up her Grade 10 year. While she’s not sure where she will go to university, she does have aspirations of being a kindergarten teacher.