(TORONTO, ONT.) The top junior wheelchair basketball athletes in Canada are set to tip off six days of competition at the 2023 Canada Winter Games beginning Monday, February 20, at the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre in Charlottetown, P.E.I. 
 
“The wheelchair basketball competition at the Canada Winter Games is an important step in the development for the junior athletes participating in Charlottetown,” said Wendy Gittens, Wheelchair Basketball Canada Executive Director. “This tournament will showcase future talent for both our men’s and women’s national teams.”
 
More than 80 athletes will compete on eight teams during the wheelchair basketball tournament at the Canada Games. Pool A will see Nova Scotia and Newfoundland compete against Quebec and Saskatchewan. Alberta, who won gold at the 2019 Canada Games in Red Deer, will compete in Pool B along with Team BC, who won the 2022 Junior National Championship. Manitoba and Ontario will round out Pool B. Full rosters can be found here.
 
The wheelchair basketball competition begins on Monday, Feb. 20, with a rematch of the 2019 Gold Medal game between Alberta and Ontario. New Brunswick, who finished fourth in Red Deer, will open against Newfoundland. The 2019 Bronze Medalists, Quebec, will face Saskatchewan and Team BC and Manitoba will wrap up the first day of competition. The complete schedule can be found here.
 
All 12 preliminary round games, along with the classification and medal round games, will be live-streamed online here. 
 
Two referee supervisors, three classifiers and nine game officials will make up the Major Technical Official staff on the ground in Charlottetown. The supervisors are Sergio Giordano (Calgary, Alta.) and Sébastien Gauthier (Blainville, Que.). Karen Ferguson (Saint John, N.B.), Tami Turner (Saskatoon, Sask.) and Clary Stubbert (Cocagne, N.B.) make up the classifiers at the tournament. 
 
The referees working the 2023 Canada Games include Frederick Gunn (Surrey, B.C.), Joanna Wiegers (Sylvan Lake, Alta.), Kerron Lewis (Edmonton, Alta.), Melissa Meachem (Saskatoon, Sask.), Ardavan Eizadirad (Toronto, Ont.), Joli-Anne Levesque (Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, Que.) Maxence Coulombe (Montreal, Que.), Keith Uthe (Calgary, Alta.) and Frazer Bykowski (Moncton, N.B.)
 
Full schedule, rosters, streaming info and links to Games photos can be found on Wheelchair Basketball Canada’s website here.
 
About the 2023 Canada Winter Games in Prince Edward Island: 
As a province known for its hospitality, we’re excited to welcome the 2023 Canada Winter Games to Prince Edward Island. From February 18 – March 5, 2023, the Games will bring together 3,600 athletes, managers, and coaches, across 20 different sports, for the largest multi-sport event in the country. With a forecasted economic impact of over $100 million, the 29th edition of the Canada Games will be the largest event hosted in Prince Edward Island’s history. 

About Wheelchair Basketball Canada

Wheelchair Basketball Canada is the national sports governing body responsible for the organization of the sport in Canada. It is a non-profit, charitable organization committed to excellence in developing, supporting, and promoting wheelchair basketball programs and services from grassroots to high performance for all Canadians. Wheelchair basketball is a fast-paced, hard-hitting, competitive sport in which Canada is held in high esteem worldwide for winning a combined six gold, one silver, and one bronze medal in the last seven Paralympic Games. For more information, please visit wheelchairbasketball.ca. 

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For more information, please contact:

Dhiren Mahiban
Communications & Digital Media Manager 
Wheelchair Basketball Canada 
416-574-6682  
dmahiban@wheelchairbasketball.ca