TORONTO - ParaSport Ontario, in partnership with the Ontario Wheelchair Sports Association, will try and set a Canadian record for the longest wheelchair basketball game by playing for 24 consecutive hours.
The event will take place at the Harbourfront Community Centre in Toronto, starting Friday, Aug. 27 at noon.
The ‘Play24’ event is open to a maximum of 80 players, and one of those participants will be 14-year-old Eric Voss, of RR7 St. Marys.
Voss is also on the poster advertising the event, and will be on the cover of ParaSports’ annual magazine.
The 24-hour hoops game, meanwhile, will played on an outdoor court, located at the corner of Bathurst St. and Queens Quay. When darkness sets in, the game will then be moved indoors for the evening, with the record being set at noon on Saturday, Aug. 28.
Participants are being asked to raise a minimum of $500 to be eligible to participate, with proceeds going to ParaSport Ontario and the Ontario Wheelchair Sports Association. Communications manager Mark Rhodes says the money will go to ParaSport’s Ready, Willing and Able program.
Anyway wishing to help Eric financially can contact him at 519-284-3397.
Natural athlete
Eric Voss has lived with Spina Bifida since birth, but has not let that stop him from achieving his dreams. Eric is a natural athlete, who has developed a passion for basketball.
He is currently a member of the London Flash, a team of wheelchair basketball players who practice once a week and play on weekends. He also plays sledge hockey in the winter months.
Holy Name of Mary Catholic school in St. Marys is very proud of Eric, a Grade 8 student this past year who will be attending Stratford St. Mikes in the fall.
Eric has been a great ambassador with the Ontario Wheelchair Sports Association, and has spoken to groups of students about playing in a wheelchair.
He is the first wheelchair athlete in Ontario to play in an able-bodied tournament at the elementary level, with some slight adjustment of rules to accommodate his chair.
This past week, Eric attended a Junior Summer Camp at Brock University in St. Catharines. The best young wheelchair basketball athletes in Canada attended.
The elite-level camp featured 22 male athletes who are eligible to participate in the 2013 Junior World championships and 19 female athletes who may represent Canada at the inaugural Women’s U-25 World Wheelchair Basketball championships taking place at Brock University in July, 2011.
Activities included: full-days of on court training, video sessions, meetings, testing and education.
Top Junior athletes in the world
In June, Eric was also invited to attend an elite camp for Wheelchair Basketball in Illinois. This five-day camp showcased the top 24 Junior athletes in the world.
“It was really fun,” Eric told the Journal Argus. “I enjoyed playing with the best players in the world, and got to know them and compete against them. Some were 22-years-old.”
In the past, 75 per cent of these athletes have gone on to represent their countries at international competitions.
He also played for Team Ontario in Montreal in May, and they came home with the silver medal.
Next year, Eric will try out for the All-Ontario team that will play in the 2011 nationals in Sarnia/Lambton. If he makes that team, he will likely be its youngest member.
Eric is the son of Matt and Heather Voss.