Melanie Hawtin was on her way to a promising career as a wheelchair racer before surgery forced her to take a hiatus from the track.

A native of Oakville, Ont., Hawtin started racing as a child and quickly became a decorated athlete within the sport with hopes of representing Canada at the Paralympic Games.

During that time away from racing, Hawtin began playing wheelchair basketball and was instantly drawn to working alongside her teammates.

“I quickly learned that I was made to be in a team sport,” said Hawtin. It was more my personality. I found it comforting and challenging as well to interact with teammates and grow that bond but I always made sure I was communicating all the time.

“[Communication] was a big thing for me in the beginning, I was really making sure I was communicating on the court. I absolutely love team sport.”

The 33-year-old began competing in wheelchair basketball with the Burlington Vipers club before going on to represent Ontario at the women’s national championship in 2013.

Hawtin then drew the attention of the National Team program and made the Senior Women’s National Team in 2014.

Following her Paralympic debut at Rio 2016 and her second World Championship appearance for Team Canada two years later, surgery forced Hawtin away from high-performance sport yet again in 2019.

“Getting back on the court has been one of the biggest challenges I’ve had to overcome,” said Hawtin, after shoulder surgery in 2019. “There was a lot to get over that. The surgery and returning to the court has given me a better perspective and made me more resilient during the pandemic. I really made a point to be respectful and there for my teammates when their environment changed due to the pandemic. They weren’t used to this, whereas because of my surgery I had been away from the court for so long,  so I was almost used to it.

“At the time when I was almost ready to return to the court, the pandemic started and we were in lockdown. As of now I still have not played a game with the teammates since before I was injured.”

Now in Toronto, where Team Canada begins three and a half months of centralization ahead of the Tokyo Paralympic Games, Hawtin is ready to compete.

“We are a completely different team that is closer together and has a stronger bond. We support each other and understand each other more. We have really gotten to know each other since the pandemic. We have really built a strong connection with each other.

“I’m so excited to see what’s going to happen in Tokyo because we’re such a strong team and it’s going to be exciting to see all the work pay off. We are ready and I could say that without a doubt despite all the challenges.

“We just have to show them what we can do.”

Follow Melanie Hawtin @MelanieHawtin and the rest of Team Canada on their journey to Tokyo at:

Facebook: @wheelchairbasketballcanada
Twitter: @wcbballcanada
Instagram: @wheelchairbasketballcanada