Bonita Ewert is in PEI cheering for the wheelchair basketball team and her son Joel. Of course, she is a proud mother of an athlete. But her involvement in the Canada Games runs deeper.
She was a hometown volunteer for the Host Society at the Prince George 2015 Canada Winter Games. “I was on the court – the field of play for wheelchair basketball. I wore the volunteer jacket. And everyone in my family was involved in those games.”
In Charlottetown, Bonita makes sure to take the time to stop and talk to the local volunteers. “You know all the work and the time and the energy they have. They’ve all been great. You can ask them questions and if they don’t know, they find the answer.”
This is her third Canada Games as her son also competed at the 2019 edition in Red Deer. “That one was closer to home. Our older son came to watch as well.” This is her second visit to Charlottetown as she was also in the city last year when BC’s wheelchair basketball team competed and won gold at the junior nationals. “It is a great city.”
Being at this edition of the Canada Games is bittersweet for Bonita as it is Joel’s final Games. “It’s the end of a chapter,” she says. Team BC wheelchair basketball players have strong support here in PEI as many parents made the cross-country journey. “We are a family. We’ve become really close with them in BC as we’ve known them since Joel was six.”
The BC wheelchair basketball team is taking on Alberta on Saturday (3 p.m. PST/7 p.m. AST). “There’s pressure. You cross your fingers,” she says.
WATCH GOLD MEDAL GAME
This likely isn’t end of the road for Bonita cheering in the stands at future sport events. Joel is on the national development team for wheelchair rugby and hopes to represent Canada on the international stage at future Paralympic Games.
- Filed by Sam Corea (@sammy_sez), Team BC Communications Staff
--
Follow along with Team BC