Ontario Athletes are Ready To Compete at The 2019 Parapan Am Games
Canadian Sport Institute Ontario – TORONTO (August 23, 2019) – Canadian Sport Institute Ontario (CSIO) would like to congratulate all of the 151 athletes, guides, pilots and assistants, and their coaches on being named to Team Canada for the 2019 Parapan American Games in Lima, Peru. CSIO would also like to congratulate the 36 Ontario athletes, coaches, and countless support staff representing Canada at the Games. Ontario athletes comprise 24% of the Canadian Parapan Am Team, the most of any province or territory!
Among the Canadian athletes competing at the Games, 57 members of the Team have received support from CSIO during their athletic career on the high performance development pathway. CSIO works or has worked with these athletes and their coaches to optimize their performance and enhance their ability to succeed on the international stage.
CSIO provides support to athletes in a number of ways including:
Integrated Support Teams (ISTs)
Athlete focused and coach led, ISTs provide sport science and sport medicine services to targeted groups of National Team athletes as identified by their National Sport Organizations. Through ISTs, athletes and their coaches receive support and services including strength and conditioning, sport nutrition, mental performance, biomechanics and performance analysis, physiology, sport medicine and athletic therapy, delivered by CSIO’s team of expert practitioners.
Ontario High Performance Sport Initiative (OHPSI)
OHPSI is a program designed by CSIO and funded by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport (MTCS), to provide sport science and sport medicine services to athletes who are best capable of achieving future international success on senior national teams in targeted winter and summer sports. The OHPSI investment also contributes to funding athlete participation in competition and training support, coach and technical leadership support and professional development, and enhancing sports’ daily training environments.
Two Parapan Am sports are partnered with CSIO through the OHPSI program – Wheelchair Basketball and Wheelchair Rugby. In addition, multiple OHPSI sports have identified specific high performance para athletes that have their primary daily training environment in Ontario. CSIO works with these partnered National and Provincial Sport Organizations and the identified high performance athletes and coaches to enhance their ability to achieve international podium performances.
There are 28 athletes nominated to the Canadian Parapan AmTeam have been supported by the OHPSI program over their career. This is an increase from the 16 OHPSI athletes that attended the 2015 Parapan Am Games.
Individual Athlete Services
All AAP carded athletes are eligible to receive individual services from CSIO. The services available to each athlete can include nutrition consultations, sport medicine and therapy appointments, life services, and access to Game Plan. As well, all AAP carded athletes have access to use CSIO’s state-of-the-art facility which includes a dedicated strength and conditioning and recovery area.
Team Canada looks to build on the success they had at the previous Parapan Am Games, held in 2015 on home soil in Toronto. TO2015 was a best-ever medal performance for Team Canada at the Parapan Am Games with 168 medals won.
CSIO is also proud to have six staff members on the ground in Lima supporting Team Canada in various roles:
- Dr. Steve Dilkas (Doctor – Core + Wheelchair Basketball)
- Dr. Kim Coros (Doctor – Core + Para Athletics)
- Lindsay Musalem (Biomechanist – Core + Para Athletics)
- Remo Bucci (Massage Therapist – Para Athletics)
- Krista McHardy (Athletic Therapist – Wheelchair Basketball)
- Melissa LaCroix (Physiologist – Wheelchair Rugby)
CSIO wishes the Ontario athletes, coaches, and support staff representing Canada the best of luck at the Games!
Go Canada Go!
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“We wish the athletes, pilots, guides and assistants the best as they get ready to compete for Canada at the 2019 Parapan Am Games. We are extremely proud of all of the Canadian athletes named to Team Canada, especially those from Ontario. A big congratulations and thank you also goes out to all of the coaches, technical leaders, practitioners, and support staff who have worked with the athletes in their daily training environments and at camps and competitions to get them ready to compete at their best in Lima. We will be cheering for you!”
Debbie Low
CEO, Canadian Sport Institute Ontario
BY THE NUMBERS:
151 – Team Canada Athletes
36 – Ontario Athletes
57 – CSIO Affiliated Athletes
28 – OHPSI Athletes (Current or Former)
A Complete List of Ontario Athletes & A Complete List of CSIO Affiliated Athletes Representing Canada at the 2019 Parapan Am Games Enclosed.
About Canadian Sport Institute Ontario
Canadian Sport Institute Ontario (CSIO) is a non-profit organization committed to the pursuit of excellence by providing world-class programs, services, and leadership to high performance athletes and coaches to enhance their ability to achieve international podium performances. CSIO offers athletes a range of sport science and sport medicine services including nutrition, physiology, biomechanics, strength & conditioning, mental performance, sport therapy and life services. CSIO also delivers programming and services to National and Provincial Sport Organizations and coaches to work towards building a stronger sport system in Ontario and Canada.
CSIO services approximately 700 high performance athletes and 250 coaches, at its main facility at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, its satellite location at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre in Milton, and in daily training environments across Ontario. CSIO is part of a larger network of 4 institutes and 3 multi-sport centres across the country known as the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Sport Institute Network, working in partnership with the Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee. CSIO is further supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, Sport Canada, Own the Podium, and the Coaching Association of Canada, along with the National and Provincial Sport Organizations within the sector. www.csiontario.ca
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Media Contact:
Laura Albright, Manager, Communications & Events
Canadian Sport Institute Ontario
Tel: 416.596.1240 Ext. 238
Email: lalbright@csiontario.ca