Team BC wheelchair basketball has a bright future ahead — finishing the 2019 Canada Winter Games in the best position since the 2003 Games.
After finishing in seventh place the last three Games, Team BC bumped up a position to sixth even though they floored a young team.
“We have a young team and we were very nervous from the first game. We played Alberta and they are playing in the gold medal game. We knew it was going to be one of the top teams and the kids really struggled but they didn’t give up and worked really hard week,” said head coach Simon Case. “:It was a great experience for myself as a coach and everyone kept improving all week.”
Team BC finished their Games off with a 56-38 win over Manitoba. Joel Aukema led the team in scoring with 17 points, followed by Nick van Bakel with 10.
“It’s really nice to finish off with a win. All the effort you put in for four years and to finish it off with the group we have if great. We have a couple people aging out which made it really fun to finish it off with the win, a lot of smiles, laughs and high fives. That’s really why you play the sport, for the fun,” said Joel Ewert.
Ewert said getting a chance to watch the other provinces in the medal games will make him even more hungry to continue to train to make the next Canada Winter Games too.
Ben Hagkull, who played in his second Canada Winter Games, said he is also looking forward to the next Games. Despite having a younger squad he said the team stepped up beyond their years.
“I feel like we have a really good team this year. A lot of people know how to keep their composure, so it is really helpful for team morale when we had tough situations in tough games.