Archive
Wheelchair Basketball Athletes Head to Orillia for Ontario Winter Games
Leave a CommentOntario’s next generation of athletes to play in 3×3 preparation tournament
The 2020 Ontario Winter Games are coming to Orillia and neighbouring municipalities Barrie, Oro-Medonte, Rama and Severn, from February 27-March 1, 2020. The multi-sport event is expected to include 3,500 athletes, coaches, officials and dignitaries as part of the Games. Wheelchair basketball is one of the five para-sports included among the 27 sports in the program, which includes traditional winter sports such as speed skating, curling, ringette, hockey, and alpine skiing, as well as other sports such as badminton, judo, futsal, and weightlifting. For a full list of events being contested as part of the Games visit the Orillia 2020 Ontario Winter Games ‘Sports’ page. It is estimated that the Games will generate approximately $5 million dollars in economic impact, which will be concentrated within the 5 hosting communities.
The wheelchair basketball competition will be held at St. Peter’s Catholic Secondary School in Barrie and will feature a young group of Ontario’s top up-and-coming wheelchair basketball players ranging in age from 11-22. Games will be played in a 3-on-3 format. The group of 20 athletes confirmed to participate in the Games will include a mix of provincial team athletes and club-level athletes from across Ontario, both with and without physical disabilities. The weekend will be used as a development and competition opportunity for the Team Ontario Junior provincial team who are preparing to compete at the upcoming Junior Regional Championship in Fredericton, New Brunswick in March. ONPARA will also leverage the Games as an opportunity for coaches-in-training from various club programs to gain experience coaching in a competitive setting while being mentored by some of our senior coaches.
The wheelchair basketball competition will take place from Friday, February 28 – Saturday February 29 and will be open to the public. All events at the 2020 Ontario Winter Games are free to attend for spectators thanks to the generous support from partners and sponsors! Visitors, family, and friends are encouraged to visit www.orillia2020.ca for details on sport schedules, venues, and results.
#Orillia2020 #Play2Inspire #OntarioWinterGames
About Games Ontario
The Orillia 2020 Ontario Winter Games is supported by the Government of Ontario, through its Games Ontario program. This program delivers or supports multi-sport events, including the Ontario Winter and Summer Games for youth, the Ontario 55+ Summer and Winter Games and the Ontario Parasport Games.
About the Ontario Para Network
Formerly known as the Ontario Wheelchair Sports Association, our mission at the Ontario Para Network (ONPARA) is to grow adaptive sport opportunities across Ontario. As the governing body for wheelchair sports in the province, we strive to offer opportunities for individuals with disabilities to participate in wheelchair athletics, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis at recreational, competitive and high performance levels.
Variety Village Rolling Rebels Crowned Division 1 League Champions
Leave a CommentRebels close out near-perfect season with provincial league title
Over the weekend of February 22-23, the London Forest City Flyers welcomed the top wheelchair basketball teams from across Ontario to the FlightExec Centre in Dorchester for the Great Lakes Conference Division 1 (Competitive) League Championship.
The tournament included all four Division 1 teams – the Burlington Vipers, Cruisers Sports Rockets, London Forest City Flyers, and Variety Village Rolling Rebels – who have played each other throughout the season in a series of tournaments as part of the Great Lakes Conference provincial wheelchair basketball league. This was the first time the league held a championship tournament since the 2013-2014 season, prior to the league’s restructuring efforts made by the Ontario Para Network (named the Ontario Wheelchair Sports Association at the time).
The tournament showcased the best wheelchair basketball club teams in Ontario and saw many exciting games throughout the weekend. Round robin games were played on Saturday and Sunday, with the championship game held on Sunday afternoon for the top two teams with the best cumulative results from the 2019-2020 season. At the top of the standings after regular season play sat the Variety Village Rolling Rebels with a 11-1 season record, followed by the London Flyers with a 7-5 record.
The championship game was expected to be closely-contested after the Flyers handed the Rebels their only loss of the season on Saturday during round robin play. The home-crowd favourites were looking for a repeat win and a championship title, while the Rebels sought redemption. Both teams traded baskets back-and-forth for much of the first half with the Rebels only leading 33-31 at the break. After a few costly turnovers from the Flyers in the 3rd quarter, the Rebels built an 8-point lead heading into the final stretch of the game and managed to outlast their opponents for a 62-57 win, claiming the GLC Division 1 title.
At the tournament’s conclusion, individual award winners for the season were announced. Awards included five All-Stars making up a 15.0 point line-up, a Most Valuable Player, and a Sportsmanship award. Recipients were selected by nomination from all participating teams in the league.
All-Star Team:
- Dave Jansen (4.5) – London Flyers
- Erik Robeznieks (4.5) – Cruisers Rockets
- Billy Langeveld (3.0) – London Flyers
- Tamara Steeves (1.5**) – Cruisers Rockets
- Christoph Trachsel (1.0*) – Variety Village Rolling Rebels
Anderson-Kutrowski Most Valuable Player Award: Jesse McNalley (Variety Village Rolling Rebels)
Keith Cartwright Sportsmanship Award: Andrea Foessel (Cruisers Rockets)
ONPARA would like to thank the London Forest City Flyers for hosting the event and providing all the hard-working volunteers and scorekeepers for the weekend. Best of luck to the club teams and individual athletes in their upcoming respective national-level championships in March and April!
Final standings for 2019-2020:
- Variety Village Rolling Rebels
- London Flyers
- Cruisers Rockets
- Burlington Vipers
To view the full season results, please visit the ONPARA website.
About the Ontario Para Network
Formerly known as the Ontario Wheelchair Sports Association, our mission at the Ontario Para Network (ONPARA) is to grow adaptive sport opportunities across Ontario. As the governing body for wheelchair sports in the province, we strive to offer opportunities for individuals with disabilities to participate in wheelchair athletics, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis at recreational, competitive and high performance levels.
Casting Call for Young Boy with a Disability
Leave a CommentSeeking young boy with a disability for an animated action/comedy
Synopsis: In a world where every good deed is recorded for social media and judged in likes and comments, our kid-heroes buck the trend and uses their mastery of sneakery to perform anonymous good deeds for others! This crew doesn’t fight bad guys – they tiptoe to lend a helping hand, infiltrate with empathy, and squash negativity right out of your day.
Seeking:
[ARI] Lead. Male. 7-10 (talent need to sound like they are 8-9).
- Talent must be able to read
- Important that the actor has a disability/uses a wheelchair
- No acting experience required, just an outgoing personality
Ari is a comic book character come to life who is totally fearless. He’s the kind of kid who marches to the beat of his own drum, which is about 6 months in the future compared to everyone else. Ari has boundless energy, loves to go fast, and is an expert with all things engineering and gear – Think of him as a little ‘Q’ from James Bond… But also James Bond. His special skills are – The Sonic Vroom-Boom – a turbo powered move where Ari’s chair can zoom past anyone and is undetectable to human or animal eyeballs.
*** TALENT MUST RESIDE IN CANADA AND BE ABLE TO WORK IN CANADA***
**ACTRA AND NON-UNION ACTORS WELCOME TO AUDITION**
*NO ACTING EXPERIENCE NECESSARY*
Details
Production Title: ‘PROJECT ARI’
Production Company: Mainframe Studios
Network: Well known digital platform
Disability Consultant: Kirsten Sharp
Written by: Various
Executive Producer(s): Michael Hefferon, Gregory R. Little, Shea Fontana
Tentative Filming Dates: March 2020 – January 2020
Rate for Talent: UBC/ ACTRA
Location: Canada (since this is for animation, the location of the recording will be wherever the talent that is cast resides)
Audition Information
Please click here for the VOICE OVER audition package
Deadline for voice over auditions: Monday, January 20, 2020 @ 12:00 PM EST
Send voice over auditions (in mp3 format) directly to arivoicecasting@gmail.com
***(If you have an agent, please allow them to submit you)***
Contact
Any questions can be sent to arivoicecasting@gmail.com
No phone calls please!
We sincerely thank everyone for their submissions but only those selected for an audition will be contacted.
Larissa Mair Casting & Associates Inc.
9 Davies Ave, Studio 305
Toronto, ON, Canada M4M 2A6
Research Study: Post-amputation Phantom Limb
Leave a CommentDid you undergo an upper and/or lower limb amputation more than 3 months ago? Are you interested in sharing how you experience a phantom limb?
If so, we would like you to participate
As a participant in this research, you will be asked to respond to questionnaires and complete an optional interview at your treating rehabilitation hospital or online. Questions will be related to your phantom limb experience after amputation. They will take a maximum of 40 minutes to complete.
If you think you may be interested in participating in this research, please contact us without any obligation.
Contact: Andrea Aternali Email: pain@yorku.ca Phone: 416-736-2100 ext. 33125
Principal Investigator:
Dr. Sander Hitzig, PhD
Sunnybrook Research Institute, St. John’s Rehab Research Program
Research Study: Financial Wellbeing Among People with Upper/Lower Limb Amputation
Leave a CommentDoes the cost of living with limb loss affect your wellbeing? Are you interested in sharing your experience regarding the financial impact of upper and/or lower limb amputation?
Download recruitment flyer here.
What is involved?
Participants will complete a 15-30 minute survey by phone
Who can participate?
- You are living in Canada
- You have undergone an upper and/or lower limb amputation
- You are at least 18 years old; English speaking
You will receive a $10 gift card for your participation.
If you would like to participate or want to learn more about this study please contact us at:
EMAIL: sarah.gould@sri.utoronto.ca PHONE: 416-446-6780 x7897
Principal Investigator: Dr. Amanda Mayo, MD, Sunnybrook Health Science Centre
Research Study: Pain in children and youth with cerebral palsy
Leave a CommentUnderstanding pain trajectories and their association with well-being in children and youth with cerebral palsy
Summary
- We are asking children and youth with cerebral palsy to help us learn about if they hurt and if it affects them.
- This study will help us better understand about if and how much pain is felt by children and youth with cerebral palsy.
Call to action
Do you have cerebral palsy? Help us learn about if you ever hurt and how you feel about it.
Who can participate
Children and youth who…
- Are 8 to 18 years old
- Have cerebral palsy
- Can communicate with or without assistive devices
- Can complete a sorting task
- Are current or past clients of Holland Bloorview or Grandview treatment centres
What’s involved
- We will meet/email/phone you one time every week for five weeks.
- The first meeting will be at your treatment center & will last one hour.
- Four questionnaires emailed, mailed or over the phone (your choice) will take 5 minutes each.
- The last questionnaire emailed, mailed, by phone or in person at your treatment center (your choice) will take 30 minutes.
- We will ask you questions about if you have pain, what the pain is like, how it makes you feel and affects you.
- Evening and weekend appointments are possible.
What are the benefits of participating?
- Helping us understand if and when you have pain, and how it makes you feel.
- You will help inform families, clinicians and researchers about how pain and well-being in children and youth with cerebral palsy changes over time.
- Participants will receive a $25 gift card as a thank you for their time.
Interested in participating?
If you are interested in participating in this study or have additional questions, please contact Heather Shearer at hshearer@hollandbloorview.ca / 416-425-6220 x 6597 with your interest, and they will get back to your shortly. Contacting us does not obligate you or your child to participate in the study.
Research Study: Survey on Accessibility in Canada
Leave a CommentWe are a research team from KITE, the research arm of Toronto Rehab-University Health Network. We want to learn about the main barriers to accessibility that individuals in Canada experience.
Download the ‘Accessibility in Canada’ survey poster here.
Who is invited to participate: Individuals who are 18 years old or older, live in Canada, and identify as at least one of the following:
- A person with a disability
- An older adults, 65 years old or older, who do not have a disability
- A (formal or informal) caregiver for a person with a disability
About one-time survey:
- 20 to 27 questions
- Three ways to take part: online, paper version (in 12 pt. or 16 pt. sized font) sent by mail, or telephone interview.
- Participants can enter a draw for a $40 gift card. One card will be awarded to every 10 participants.
Go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AccessibilityCanada
For more information, please contact Sin-Tung.
E-mail: sin-tung.lau@uhn.ca Tel: 416-597-3422 ext. 7878
Please note that the security of e-mail messages is not guaranteed. Messages may be forged, forwarded, keep indefinitely, or seen by others using the internet. Do not use e-mail to discuss information you think is sensitive. Do not use e-mail in an emergency since e-mail may be delayed.
Version Date: October 21, 2019.
Casting Call for People with Visible Disabilities
Leave a CommentSeeking individuals with visible disabilities for upcoming furniture campaign
Jigsaw Casting Ltd. is seeking individuals, aged 25-45, with a visible disability, for upcoming furniture campaign in Toronto.
Compensation
Pays approximately $5,000+ per person, if selected.
Details & Submission Information
- Ages 25-45
- Must have a visible disability
- No previous acting experience is required
- Non speaking role
- This is a union job. Non actors/non-union members are welcome to apply.
- Must be a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident
If interested, please apply directly online to https://projectfurniture.castingcrane.com/
Submissions are due ASAP or by Tuesday November 12 at 9:00am
Availability
Must be available for these key dates:
- Online interview – Wednesday, November 13, 2019
- Wardrobe – November 19 or November 20, 2019
- Shoot: November 21, 22, or 23, 2019
Contact
Jigsaw Casting Ltd.
60 Sumach Street
3rd Floor
Toronto, ON, M5A 3J7
www.jigsawcasting.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JigsawCasting/
Casting Call for Women in Wheelchairs
Leave a CommentToronto Talent Agency seeking a woman in a wheelchair for a TV production
Seeking: Woman who uses a wheelchair, aged 20+ years old
Please note only persons that are in a wheelchair may apply
Shoot Date: Thursday October 24, 2019
Location: Toronto, ON (interior)
Production: Mrs. America
Application:
Please email the following information to TOtalentagency@gmail.com
1) Full name
2) Union status (ACTRA or Non Union)
3) Photo with wheelchair (camera phone is fine)
4) Are you OK with atmospheric smoke?
4) City of residence
5) Primary phone number (cell phone)
Contact
Doris Wohl
416-817-3946
TOtalentagency@gmail.com
Facebook: @TOtalentagency
Ken Thom Memorial Coaching Award Recipient Announcement
Leave a CommentKen Hall named as recipient of 2019 Ken Thom Coaching Award
ONPARA is proud to announce coach Ken Hall as the successful recipient of the inaugural Ken Thom Memorial Coaching Award.
Ken Hall got his start coaching with Cruisers Sports after Ken Thom encouraged him to give it a try. Today, he is a para-athletics (throws) and sledge hockey coach and the Cruisers Sports Director of Sledge Hockey. He works with para-athletics athletes at all levels, from grassroots to high performance, and has developed athletes that have gone on to compete at the Paralympic Games and other major international events. Ken brings with him a wealth of knowledge in the sport, which allows him to effectively work with athletes of various physical abilities.
Ken was nominated by his athlete Tiffany Gaudette, who describes him as bringing “a unique style of humour, athlete accountability, honesty, and respect to each practice, which results in making our team feel like a family.” Ken is able to use his sense of humour and positivity to ensure that athletes have a good practice, even when they might not be having such a good day. He keeps practices interesting and engaging and always full of laughter. Regardless of athletes’ personal goals, Ken makes sure that the main goal of sport is to stay active and have fun.
He also makes sure to teach his athletes about important values on and off the field, including fair play, respect for competitors and officials, independence, and self-advocacy. He works with his athletes to set goals and provides guidance and assistance in helping them reach those goals.
Ken is very active in his community and he encourages his athletes to give back and get involved in their own communities. He is an excellent role model and leads by example by working hard, showing dedication, and volunteering in his spare time.
ONPARA and the Thom family couldn’t think of a better coach to be the first recipient of the Ken Thom Award. Congratulations Ken and thank you for your many contributions to the adaptive sports community in Ontario!
About the Ken Thom Memorial Coaching Award
The Ken Thom Memorial Coaching Award was established by the Ontario Para Network in 2018 to honour the memory and contributions of former president and long-time wheelchair athletics coach, the late Ken Thom. The award is presented annually during National Coaches Week to an adaptive sports coach in Ontario who embodies the passion, knowledge, and skills that that made Ken such a cherished member of the ONPARA organization.
About the Ontario Para Network
Formerly known as the Ontario Wheelchair Sports Association, our mission at the Ontario Para Network (ONPARA) is to grow adaptive sport opportunities across Ontario. As the governing body for wheelchair sports in the province, we strive to offer opportunities for individuals with disabilities to participate in wheelchair athletics, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis at recreational, competitive and high performance levels.
