With less than two weeks to go before the national women鈥檚 wheelchair championships, team B.C. is looking good, according to top coach Tim Frick, who watched with approval while some members of the Breakers practiced at the Timms Community Centre gymnasium in 91原创 City on Sunday morning, March 10.

鈥淚鈥檓 pleasantly surprised, actually,鈥� Frick commented.

鈥淟ast year at nationals, the team struggled a little bit,鈥� Frick recalled.

鈥淚 think this year, they鈥檙e a little bit stronger. Some of the athletes are older, more mature, more experienced and they鈥檙e doing a great job.鈥�

Frick was part of the weekend Breakers Festival, an annual women鈥檚-only wheelchair basketball festival organized by the non-profit B.C. Wheelchair Basketball Society (BCWBS) .

It offered skills sessions, and lots of games led by experienced coaches, for women and girl players over two days 鈥渋n a space centered around women鈥檚 experiences, with physical disabilities or able-bodied鈥� as the registration notice described.

鈥淚鈥檝e been involved with the Breakers program in B.C. here for probably 30 years now,鈥� Frick said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty exciting that we can host our annual festival at Timms center. It鈥檚 a wonderful facility.鈥�

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Nadine Barbisan, director of the BCWBS Let鈥檚 Play program, said 鈥渨e actually have someone who came up from the States to to join us to get some more experience, because we have coach Tim Frick.鈥�

鈥淚f you , you鈥檒l find a very long list of his contributions to wheelchair basketball across Canada and internationally 鈥� he was Terry Fox鈥檚 coach and Rick Hansen鈥檚 friend-slash-coach,鈥� Barbison explained.

Frick first met Rick Hansen in 1977 as a physical education student at UBC. He coached Hansen in marathons and also helped launch the that covered 40,000 km through 34 countries raising awareness about the potential of people with disabilities. Frick coached Terry Fox in track and wheelchair volleyball, and played with him in wheelchair basketball.

鈥淚鈥檝e been pretty lucky to have coached Terry and Rick,鈥� Frick told the 91原创 Advance Times.

As head coach of the Canadian Women鈥檚 Wheelchair Basketball Team, Frick led Canada to an 11-year undefeated streak, including three consecutive Paralympic gold medals (1992, 1996, 2000) and four consecutive World Championship titles (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006).

A member of the Order of Canada and Order of British Columbia, Frick has been inducted into Canada鈥檚 Sports Hall of Fame (2014), Canadian Paralympic Hall of Fame (2013), and the Wheelchair Basketball Canada Hall of Fame (2012), among many other honours.

The 2024 CWBL Women鈥檚 National Championship will take place on March 22-24 at Coll猫ge La Cit茅 in Ottawa.

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