Bo Hedges and the Canadian men's wheelchair basketball team are on a collision course for the 2016 Paralympic Games.
They cleared one more obstacle in their path to Rio de Janeiro Wednesday at the Para Pan Am Games in Toronto with a 73-34 quarterfinal win over Puerto Rico, much to the delight of a boisterous pro-Canadian crowd in the Ryerson Athletic Centre, the building formerly known as Maple Leaf Gardens.
Now in his eighth year with the national team, winning never gets old for Hedges, a native of Fort St. John and UNBC graduate who lived in Prince George from 1998-2006.
"Things are going well here, it's a young group and we're building a new nucleus," said the 35-year-old Hedges, prior to Wednesday's game. "We have a really balanced lineup right now and on any given day anybody can step up and score 20 points."
The Canadian men opened Saturday with 102-27 win over Venezuela, then beat Mexico 74-55, followed by a 68-62 victory over Argentina on Tuesday. Hedges had been averaging close to 10 points per game heading into Wednesday's game. Puerto Rico held him to two points, three assists and six rebounds.
"So far it's been amazing, the crowd support has been outstanding -- big crowds, really energetic and lots for new people introduced to the sport, which is great for development," said Hedges. "It's had really good online coverage (all Canadian games have been streamed live on cbc.ca) and on TV as well so kids around Canada can see it and hopefully it inspires them to go out and play.
"People are coming out to cheer you on, not because they're family and friends but because they just enjoy sport and they want to support Canadian athletes. It's a pretty amazing feeling when they're there cheering."
Hedges has roots in southern Ontario and his extended family joined his parents Bill and Marilyn in the stands to form a Bo cheering section along with crowd of about 20 of his friends from B.C. who made the trip to Toronto.
Hedges shared in Canada's silver-medal performance in the 2008 Summer Paralympic in Beijing, was a gold medalist in 2012 in London, and his veteran leadership would make him a logical choice for his third Paralympic team if Canada beats Brazil in Friday's Para Pan Am semifinal. The top two teams besides Brazil, the 2016 Paralympic hosts will qualify.
"Six of the 12 players from London have retired and moved on so we have six rookies who have never competed as a major games before and that's pretty unheard of, especially when you remove the top-end talent we did have with Pat Anderson, Joey Johnson, Richard Peter, and Dave Durepos, all mainstays on the team moving on with their lives," said Hedges. "We're trying to continue being a powerhouse and this is the first step along that process."
Hedges started wheelchair basketball at age 13 in 1993, not long after he became a paraplegic as a result of an accident while on vacation at the family farm near Hagersville, Ont. He fell out of a tree and landed on a stump, which broke his back and severed his spinal cord. Hedges lost the use of his legs but can still use his abdominal muscles. On the scale of disability classification which ranges from 1.0 (most disabled) to 4.5 (able-bodied), Hedges' is rated at 2.5.
Hedges graduated from UNBC in 2005 and moved to Vancouver the following year. He went on to earn his masters degree is sports management at the University of Alabama. He's been living in the Toronto area since 2014, where he trains full-time at the Canadian Wheelchair Basketball Academy in Scarborough. Eight of the 12 members of the Pan Am men's team are based in Toronto.
The success of the Paralympic teams in wheelchair basketball has funneled more money to the sport through the Canadian Paralympic Committee, which has allowed Hedges to become a full-time athlete supported by personal trainers, nutritionists and sports psychologists at the Canadian Sports Institute of Ontario.
"In the States, all the young guys go through the college system right out of high school in a daily training environment with good coaching, but it's really expensive if you're not talented enough and can't go down on a scholarship," said Hedges. "In Canada, there are club teams but with a lot of retirements and guys going to Europe to play, the club-level basketball wasn't as strong as it's been in the past and athletes were taking longer to progress. This allows them to come to a spot that's associated with the University of Toronto, so you can go to school if you want to go."
The Canadian women booked their ticket to Rio Wednesday when they beat Mexico 80-39 Tuesday to lock up a top-two finish in their pool. Canada plays Argentina in a semifinal today at 9:45 a.m. PDT, followed by the U.S.-Brazil semifinal. The top three Pan Am women's teams as well as Brazil will qualify for next year's Paralympics.
The Paralympic team selection camp will be held in January in Toronto.
