Wheelchair Basketball Canada is pleased to announce the 23 athletes selected to represent Team Canada at the IWBF World Championships in Dubai.The Canadian men’s and women’s teams will compete at the World Championships from June 9-20 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The World Championships will determine the number of spots each zone will receive for the 2024 Paralympic Games. Team Canada’s men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball teams will also compete in the 2023 Parapan American Games (Nov. 17-26), which will serve as the Americas zone qualification tournament for the Paris Games.“Through a mix of games and practices, both teams have put in an immense amount of work in preparation for the IWBF World Championships,” said Jeff Dunbrack, High Performance Director, Wheelchair Basketball Canada. “I am confident both teams are ready and prepared to have a strong showing in Dubai.”The Senior Women’s National Team, which qualified for the World Championships with their quarterfinals victory over Argentina at the 2022 Americas Cup, will feature nine returning members from Brazil.“This team is tough, talented and determined,” said Senior Women’s National Team Head Coach Marni Abbott-Peter. “We continue to improve and grow each time we get on the court, and we look forward to competing at the Worlds.”The women’s team will compete in Group B against Australia, Brazil, China, Spain and Great Britain. On the men’s side, Team Canada has 10 returning members from the group that qualified for the Worlds with a quarterfinals victory over Colombia at the 2022 Americas Cup. Canada will play in Group B against Thailand, Egypt and Germany.“With our team fully assembled, I am confident in this group’s ability to perform at the Worlds,” said Senior Men’s National Team Head Coach Matteo Feriani. “The recent Ottawa Invitational tournament gave our athletes much-needed reps as we fine-tune our game for Dubai.”Team Canada’s men’s and women’s games will be streamed on the IWBF YouTube channel. The complete schedule can be found here.Women’s Roster: Arinn Young (Legal, Alta.)Kady Dandeneau (Pender Island, B.C.)Sandrine Bérubé (Beauharnois, Que.)Cindy Ouellet (Quebec City, Que.)Élodie Tessier (Saint-Germain de Grantham, Que.)Megan Smith (Vancouver, B.C.)Tamara Steeves (Mississauga, Ont.)Tara Llanes (North Vancouver, B.C.)Melanie Hawtin (Oakville, Ont.)Sofia Fassi-Fehri (Montreal, Que.)Puisand Lai (Toronto, Ont.)Women’s coaches: Marni Abbott-Peter (Vancouver, B.C.) – Senior Women’s Head CoachTim Frick (Pender Island, B.C.) – Assistant CoachDylan Carter (Toronto, Ont.) – Assistant Coach & WBC Performance AnalystMen’s Roster:Patrick Anderson (Fergus, Ont.)Nik Goncin (Regina, Sask.)Colin Higgins (Rothesay, N.B.)Reed De’Aeth (Sherwood Park, Alta.)Blaise Mutware (Toronto, Ont.)Bo Hedges (Wonowon, B.C.)Garrett Ostepchuk (Regina, Sask.)Tyler Miller (Kitchener, Ont.)Chad Jassman (Calgary, Alta.)Vincent Dallaire (Quebec City, Que.)Lee Melymick (Toronto, Ont.)Jonathan Vermette (Sherbrooke, Que.)Men’s coaches: Matteo Feriani (Padova, Italy) – Senior Men’s Head CoachNicolas Palmer (Laval, Que.) – Senior Men’s Assistant CoachDarrell Nordell (Edmonton, Alta.) – Assistant Coach & U23 Men’s Head CoachAdditional Support Staff: Danielle de Laat (Hamilton, Ont.) – Senior Men’s PhysiotherapistPaul Murata (Toronto, Ont.) – Senior Women’s Athletic TherapistJoe Leszner (Thornhill, Ont.) – Mental Performance ConsultantJesse McNalley (Toronto, Ont.) – Performance AnalystColby Hathaway (Four Falls, N.B.) – Strength & Conditioning CoachJeff Dunbrack (Halifax, N.S.) – High Performance DirectorHailey Roll (Mississauga, Ont.) – High Performance Coordinator
Press release & photo: Wheelchair Basketball Canada