Pat Harris is an accomplished paralympic athlete, volunteer, coach and builder.
As an athlete and coach, he competed and guided teams provincially, nationally and internationally in athletics and wheelchair basketball.
He's the driving force behind the Prince George Titans wheelchair basketball program.
The list of achievements for the last 35 years is long for Harris.
But his biggest accomplishment?
"I can't pinpoint one thing, I'm proud of being a coach, athlete, and organizer," he said recently.
"But it's the awareness over the years. It's for disabled people to become included and people interacting with them becomes normal and makes it an ordinary experience. That's the most significant experience."
Harris will be inducted into the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame this Saturday in the coach category. He's among seven other athletes, coaches, and builders who will be feted at the banquet.
"I'm really surprised and flattered," said Harris, the resource manager for Spinal Cord Injury B.C. in Prince George.
"A lot of people with disabilities can lead a good life. I've been in a wheelchair for 40 years and I don't regret anything."
Harris grew up in Chase. When he was 10, a riverbank collapsed on his back while he was playing. He spent the next year in hospital and his 12th birthday in rehabilitation where he learned the skills necessary to live in a world that was not accessible.
While in high school in Chase, his phys-ed coach Doug Everett realized the potential in Harris and introduced him to wheelchair sports.
"He took me under his wing in school and he knew he needed to do something with me, but he wasn't sure," said Harris.
"He was a big influence and that's when I started wheelchair activities. Anybody who achieves anything in life, you don't do it independently. You need help from parents, siblings and spouses. Without that network, we wouldn't be where we are today. Without our mentors like our parents. For me it was my high school phys-ed coach."
It changed his life forever.
He moved to Vancouver after high school and played for the famous Vancouver Cable Cars wheelchair basketball team and was a member of a Canadian championship team.
When Harris and his wife Nancy moved to Prince George in 1980, he realized opportunities and accessibility for those in wheelchairs were limited.
The wheels started churning in Harris's mind and he founded the Prince George Titans wheelchair basketball team.
While he mentored and influenced hundreds of athletes in northern B.C. in the sport over the years, the person Harris is most proud of is his son Avril.
"The really cool thing is Avril who's playing wheelchair basketball," he said.
"I introduced him to a whole lot of sports, but he's now on the B.C. team for the 2015 Canada Winter Games and he'll be competing here. I'm a very proud dad."
Proud dad is also the Wheelchair Sport Chair for the 2015 Games.
But despite all the challenges and obstacles Pat Harris has torn down, he said there's still a lot of work to be done.
More opportunity has to be found for people with disabilities, especially youth.
"It's getting kids involved in sports and recreation, that's key," he said.
"They want to be healthy and physically active and it's a demographic that's under-represented."
He credits his 2015 Canada Winter Games colleague Lisa Davison for introducing para-badminton to Prince George in November. The sport will be on display again Saturday morning at the North Central Junior, Open and Masters badminton tournament at the Northern Sport Centre.
That creates more opportunity, integration and inclusiveness.
Other inductees entering the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame this weekend are:
Gibby Chase (powerlifting); Ed Day (cross-country skiing); Jason LaBarbera (hockey); Dave Wood (cross-country skiing); Glen Scott (lacrosse); John Pettersen (cross-country skiing); and Bjorger Pettersen (cross-country skiing).
