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Wheelchair basketball showcase raises awareness for proposed Abilities Centre Ottawa

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The mission to create a community of inclusion got a boost recently when a group of elite athletes put on a wheelchair basketball showcase in Pembroke.

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The event was organized by Sam Graham of Beachburg, a member of the Ottawa Royals wheelchair basketball team, former Canada Winter Games athlete, basketball champion and coach. The exhibition game was held at Champlain Discovery Public School with Royals taking on celebrity teams made up of members of Pembroke city council, the Pembroke Fire Department and the Pembroke Regional Hospital. Each of the celebrity teams played a quarter against the Royals and the fourth quarter was an all-star affair as it featured the top players from each celebrity team joining the Royals on the court.

Tina Peplinskie / Daily ObserverPembroke Coun. Christine Reavie attempts to score during a recent wheelchair basketball exhibition game in Pembroke while Ottawa Royals player Josh Davies keeps an eye on her looking for the rebound.
Tina Peplinskie / Daily ObserverPembroke Coun. Christine Reavie attempts to score during a recent wheelchair basketball exhibition game in Pembroke while Ottawa Royals player Josh Davies keeps an eye on her looking for the rebound.
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This isn’t the first time Graham has brought his teammates back to Renfrew County to showcase the sport he loves while raising money and awareness for local groups. In the past he has organized exhibition games to raise money for various causes including the PRH’s MRI fund, the Algonquin College Students’ Association’s Food Cupboard and also highlight the future Abilities Centre Ottawa. The purpose of this game was once again to raise awareness about the Abilities Centre Ottawa, which provided all of the equipment used by the celebrity teams.

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Tina Peplinskie / Daily ObserverColleen Ferneyhough of the Pembroke Regional Hospital team gets ready to take a show while her teammate Sabine Mersmann and opponents Corin Metzger and Sam Graham of the Ottawa Royals look on during a wheelchair basketball exhibition game at Champlain Discovery recently.
Tina Peplinskie / Daily ObserverColleen Ferneyhough of the Pembroke Regional Hospital team gets ready to take a show while her teammate Sabine Mersmann and opponents Corin Metzger and Sam Graham of the Ottawa Royals look on during a wheelchair basketball exhibition game at Champlain Discovery recently.

The Abilities Centre Ottawa (ACO) will be a fully-integrated, inclusive, multi-purpose and accessible recreation facility designed to meet the needs of all individuals and families. The centre, based on the successful model in Whitby, Ont., is part of the proposed Lebreton Flats development so the timeline for completion is looking like 2022-23.

Until there is a physical building, Emily Glossop, chairwoman of the ACO board of directors, keeps the ‘centre’ in a trailer that she tows behind her SUV. Prior to the exhibition game, Glossop and Graham spent the day at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School in Petawawa, where students had a chance to learn about and try a number of different sports from wheelchair basketball to cross-country skiing, to wheelchair curling and sledge hockey, with all of the equipment being provided by ACO. The school program is part of a partnership between the Abilities Centre Ottawa and Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities, which will support of children and youth, regardless of ability, to engage in a life of sport and physical activity. The partnership is worth $1.7 million over five years.

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Graham said the kids loved having the opportunity to try all of the different sports and while it was a long day, it was exciting to share these new sports with the students.

Glossop explained this is part of the para-sport education program, with the goal of showing teachers how they can be more inclusive during their physical education classes.

Although the physical building is down the road for ACO, a dedicated group of volunteers will continue to work behind the scenes towards the goal of creating a place where people of all ages and abilities can go to enjoy recreational opportunities and learn life skills to allow people to learn how to live independently. The volunteers have already been working on the ACO project for more than seven years and that work will continue. Before the centre is built, the board will continue to reach out to the community to determine the needs so they can eventually be met.

“We believe there needs to be an abilities centre in every major city across the country,” Glossop said. “The mission extends beyond the walls. It is about creating a community of inclusion.”

For more information about the centre visit http://abilitiescentreottawa.org/

Tpeplinskie@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/TPeplinskie

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