The purpose of the trip was to unite the Mountain Collective Team at Salomon’s headquarters in France to share ideas and look at how we can continue developing both the sport of skiing and the equipment we use.

It’s the first trip I’ve ever made to participate in product research and development for a company, and hopefully, it won’t be the last.

We spent the first two days at Salomon’s office in Annecy learning about what works well and what needs improving. We spent the remainder of the week in La Clusaz testing next season’s new products. I was amazed at how much goes into the development of products. It was awesome to see how everything works together so a rider can achieve optimal performance.

A personal highlight was having the chance to ski and hang out with so many riders I’ve admired my entire career and share ideas on how to challenge the mountains and equipment I ride on. New dreams surfaced for me. I’m stoked!

The wealth of knowledge I was exposed to, and Salomon’s willingness to customize equipment has really inspired me. It makes me want to play and explore the mountains even more!

After a tip-top week, including the odd wine and cheese and après-ski, I flew to Montreal for the Canadian Alpine Championships. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans. The warm weather forced the organizers to cancel the event due to lack of snow.  I took advantage of the break to explore the city for a few days before heading home.

Upon my return, I was treated to a few memorable events. Silver Star, in partnership with Oakley and the Camp of Champions in Whistler, B.C, set up a massive air bag so the local kids could get their freak-on in a safe way. Check out this short video.

Straight off the mountain, I made my way into town to be part of the Rick Hansen Relay. It was a great honour to support this event. I’m able to live the life that I do thanks to Rick and his work. He’s been fighting to create a world without barriers for the past 25 years. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, Rick.

This week, I had a chance to hang out at a local elementary school. When I have some time off, one of the things I enjoy most is meeting with kids, telling them my story and learning about theirs. I hope I got them stoked up on life and living their dreams. In return, they rewarded me with many great questions and observations that have helped me reflect on my own journey.

For more pics and in-depth stories about my adventures, ‘”like” my Facebook page. I’ll share more soon. In the meantime, thanks for reading and please keep coming back!

It started with the North American World Cup in Winter Park, Colorado. This is one of my favourite hills on the circuit, and I was feeling like I had a bit of an advantage over the European and Japanese racers, having raced there many times over the years. The first races of the week were doubleheader Super Gs, in which I finished eighth and fourth respectively — not too bad, but the truth is I was hoping to finish on the podium.

The next two days were giant slalom (GS) races, which, unfortunately, went sour fast. I’m not really a good GS skier on the best of days — yet, I skied especially poorly.

I had a super tough start. First, the snow was really aggressive. But it went downhill from there, literally. I was eons off pace which was quite discouraging. The last race of the series was the slalom. From what I remember, I was pretty good at slalom the last time I raced in the World Cup. This time around, I finished my first run and felt good about it, only to realize I was in ninth place and way off pace. Nonetheless, I did improve my second run and moved up to sixth overall for the day.

It was a real eye-opener to see the level at which everyone else was racing. For me, to come in mid-season with high hopes was like trying to run a car hard on a cold winter’s day. But Colorado was far from being a bust; I left feeling inspired and motivated to bring my best to the World Cup finals in Panorama, B.C.

The momentum had started building up for me in Winter Park, where I was getting charged up for Panorama. I love being back home in the Kootenays and feel so at peace in the mountains there. I came out strong and won the first Super G event of the week. I was close to winning the second one when I hit a nasty bump and lost traction, which sent me off course.

The next event was the Super Combined, which started with a Super G in the morning (in which I finished fourth) and then the slalom in the afternoon (which I completely blew and finished ninth overall, combined time). The final day of the World Cup finals was the slalom. I was motivated to do my best, and I did.

In the first run, I was in fourth position and in striking distance of winning. I started off my second run feeling smooth and aggressive through the tight turns and bumps, when, out of nowhere, I blew my ski off!  I was furious, and perplexed by how this could have happened, and so disappointed to be disqualified from the race.

I put my ski back on and raged down the rest of the course (it was the best I’ve ever skied slalom, hands down); but it cost me dearly. I was fined for continuing down the track after being disqualified and had to pay for my unsportsmanlike behaviour. Not only did I pay the fine, but I apologized to everyone for my actions (and I tell you, it was money well spent as I needed to blow off my frustration in a constructive way).

This whole experience has reminded me of how much I enjoy the action of ski racing — the pure beauty of flying down the mountain while trying to balance on that fine line of skilled control and insanity.

Just on the perimeter of that line, just beyond your comfort zone, is where the magic lies — where you’re free to explore your potential. Racing is also a game of attrition; you need to be wise with how you push boundaries and expand your experience. But, like any job or pursuit to be the best you can be, safety must always come first.

After a tight few weeks of World Cup races, filled with some magnificent moments and hard lessons, I wrapped up the season ranking third overall in the World Cup Super G standings. It was a super nice cherry on top of an already amazing winter!

Less than 24 hours after the race, I found myself in a nice little Euro chalet, on the slopes of La Clusaz, with the Salomon Freeski Team. It’s dumping outside and I’m sitting fireside, eating cheese and drinking wine.

LIFE IS GOOD.

As most of you probably already know, on February 3, I executed a picture-perfect back flip — it was huge in so many ways.

The accomplishment sits very high in my personal books as it’s been a long-standing goal and a task that created a great deal of fear. In my opinion, the fear generated by the thought of even performing the back flip was very important to overcome. I’ve learned to live with my physical paralysis but to be paralyzed by fear is no way to live at all.

Most people have looked at this feat as groundbreaking, amazing, and simply awesome. There are, however, a few people that think I’m just crazy. Some people seem to think I have a death wish or that attempting the back flip was a completely unnecessary risk to be taking. Allow me a moment to disagree with the naysayers . . .

The back flip was a personal quest. I not only wanted but needed to overcome deep-rooted demons that have been haunting me since that fateful moment that changed my life nearly eight years ago — it involved an internal struggle of ego versus intuition.

On paper the flip seemed a simple and in fact a relatively safe endeavor. The reality was I have never been so scared in my entire life. From my first launch into the foam pits at Woodward at Copper Mountain to the air bag at Blackcomb, I was sweating and stressing about bringing the flip onto snow. I kept questioning myself. “Why would I do this? Am I prepared for the consequences?”

Over time, the answer became clear — the back flip was a perfect opportunity to expand on what’s possible and to test my instincts in a clutch environment. You see, when I bailed on the front flip years back, I went against every stich of good judgment — I let my inexperience and ego guide me off that jump.

I’ve learned from my mistakes and speak to my experiences all the time. When “Project Back Flip” started coming to fruition it became more than about going upside down — it became the ultimate arena to test my ability to let my intuition guide me.

When the day came to bring it to snow the fear had all but melted away completely. With a team of jump experts, safety personnel, and a few good folks to capture the day and take care of all the details, I was left with simply focusing on the task at hand. Here’s a good perspective of the day from my friends at Skier Magazine.

Lacey and I in Los Angeles to meet none other than Ellen DeGeneres.

The weeks that followed went off as the whole world seemed to take interest in this project. I had a chance to catch up with Ellen DeGeneres (believe it or not meeting Ellen was very high on my list of things to do/people to meet). I also made an appearance on Urban Rush, where I talked about some of the safety issues around preparing for the back flip. For a recap of the stories and interviews from the past few weeks please check out my Athlete Page on Facebook.

You just never know who you’ll run into in Hollywood!

In the midst of the media storm I was also juggling my schedule with Alpine Canada. We had a race series in Kimberley consisting of two downhill races and two Super G races — to say it was a good week would be an understatement. I was able to use all the positive momentum generated by the flip to my advantage and win three of the four races. The race that did not go super well was a result of hitting a huge divot on the track, which ejected me rather quickly from the course.

After the races in Kimberley I shifted gears and did a presentation in Toronto and Vancouver.

In Toronto I spoke with staff at Maple Leaf Foods, a great group of people that make up one the top companies in Canada. I am still feeling humbled and inspired from my time with them. If you don’t know about Maple Leaf here’s a little piece that to me defines their integrity and leadership abilities that set a new standard.

Vancouver was a school visit speaking on behalf of WorkSafeBC, educating and empowering the students about workplace safety via the lessons learned and experiences gained in my lifetime. Sharing with school kids is a true highlight!

My new skid lid – state of the art and a thing of beauty.

I finished out the month with a little work on my sit ski with my buddy Rob Mulder to get myself ready for the upcoming World Cup races in Colorado and the World Cup Finals in Panorama this month . . . look for my next post after the races.

By now though you’ve probably heard the great news — you know, I’ve had this dream since I was first laid up in the hospital nearly eight years ago to do a backflip in my sit ski. With countless hours of training and preparation and with help from a group of good friends (professional skiers) who prepped the jump site for me, I was able to realize my dream on February 3rd — I nailed a backflip at Whistler!

The process to bring the flip to snow began awhile back in the foam pits at Woodward at Copper Mountain. I met up with Nick Bass — who’s a very accomplished aerialist and jumping coach — and it was then we both knew it could be done.

The next stop was the terrain park at Blackcomb to practice this trick into an airbag. Our practice and preparation paid off huge. We figured out the best jump shape, speed, and all the other details we thought were important. I really wanted to take this into the backcountry and try it on snow right away, but Mother Nature did not allow. Conditions were snowy, windy, and foggy, which made it too dangerous to try. We had to put the project on hold.

Next, it was off to the X Games down in Aspen. This trip is probably my favourite competition all winter. I love being right in the mix with all the other sports and athletes — watching everyone throw down is so inspirational and gets me super charged up.

They toned down the Skier Cross course this year to make sure everyone was going to be able to go fast and put on a good show for TV — and that’s exactly what happened. It was probably the best finals heat our sport has ever showcased. I’m so happy for my good friend Samson who took home the gold . . . and for me, a bronze finish is a mighty fine accomplishment.

Huge air in the Mono Skier X Final. That’s me at the top right.

Another highlight was getting to attend the Powder Video Awards. I’d just found out before heading to the party that “Freedom Chair” had been nominated for best documentary. We gave it no chance of winning considering the other films we were up against. Imagine our surprise when they announced our film . . . we were completely stunned.

Lacey and me at the PVA award ceremony.

Then it was back home to catch up on some routine business. I was home for less than 48 hours when the crew from Switchback Entertainment called and said the weather in Whistler was going to be sunny, and that Powder Mountain Catskiing was willing to build me a perfect jump to attempt the backflip.

I knew it was the right time and place to overcome my fear and do something awesome. Coming down the approach I felt a sense of calm and confidence. I’ll let the video tell the rest of the story . . .

All of the elements were in place. It took a lot of training and preparation to get to this moment.

Nailing the back flip was such a great feeling — total freedom!

The response to the video has been insane. It’s all good — for the sport and for anyone desiring to overcome challenges and obstacles in their life. This could also open up a new avenue for the sport, which would be great.

In racing . . . my 2012 season began with a quick trip to Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, for the U.S. Para-Alpine Championships. I had a chance to test myself against the best riders in North America and it went pretty well — in four races I earned four silver medals. There was pretty much a new winner every day, which was nice to see. For me, I kept making little mistakes, which kept me in the hunt but out of the top spot. It left me hungry for the next set of races in mid-February.

Showing off the results of all our hard work – members of the Canadian Para-alpine Ski Team racked up 12 podiums at Waterville.

I’m off to LA to have a little chat with Ellen. The episode with my segment airs Wednesday, February 15. Then I’m straight back into racing on Thursday at my old stomping grounds in Kimberley B.C. Here’s some footage from last year’s race.

Enjoy the moments in life and see y’all back here soon. Thanks for reading…

Since I last dropped in on ye old blog I’ve done some racing down in Colorado, a full overhaul on my sit ski, a handful of presentations, traveled to Revelstoke and Victoria, and got a few great days of skiing in my own backyard. My holidays were great but my time at home was brief.

Colorado in December is one of my most favourite places to be. The snow is usually good, and pretty much everyone is down there; from the Para Alpine racers to all the freestylers doing the Dew Tour — it’s like a big ol’ reunion.

GS2 race, Copper Mountain, Colorado.

It was a frantically busy trip to Colorado with a solid week of training prior to the races, followed by four straight races (2xGS and 2xSL). Our whole team did very well and I’m happy to say I won three gold and one bronze medal, a great start to the season.

I also had a chance to spend some time in the foam pits at Woodward at Copper and practice doing some flips in my sit ski! The foam pit is the first step of progression to bring that backflip onto the snow one day.

Even though I’m at the forefront of the progression of my sport, I always keep safety in mind. It’s important to recognize and follow a plan when developing new ideas and skills. The next phase of this chapter of training includes lots of practice on an airbag, and then if everything is aligned we’ll try a flip on the snow. Small steps and lots of training/practice are the keys to safe progression in any sport or job.

Returning home for the holidays was a treat, especially since I always put off Christmas shopping off until the last minute. I literally started my shopping at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve. I got lucky with my shopping, and enjoyed a most wonderful and relaxing Christmas with the family . . . it was nice.

The rest of my holidays were spent overhauling my sit ski to ensure it can handle the big jumps and high speeds in the months ahead. I also spent time working on my website, JoshDueck.com. I’m so damn excited for the season ahead and I’m really looking forward to being able to share it with you via my webpage. It’s gonna be rad.

An early Christmas present from a friend on the Canadian Para-alpine Ski Team.

Revelstoke was next on my list of places to be. I had a chance to go to a classic ski bar and do a presentation on behalf of my favourite foundation, Liveit! Loveit!. This organization is close to my heart, and to be able to share the love and promote empowerment through sport with my good friends is the best feeling. Thanks to Izzy and Zoya Lynch for making this happen, and to all the people for coming out and supporting the cause.

After Revelstoke, it was back to Vernon for a couple of days. I spent some time up at the “Star” riding with friends during the day, and spending my evenings downtown at the Best of Banff Film Festival. It’s always great to take in all of the spectacular films that are being showcased. If you love the outdoors and haven’t been to the festival it’s an absolute must. The “Freedom Chair” played both nights. To see the reaction of the home crowd was amazing — I’m honored and flattered by the support of the community.

Off to Victoria for New Year’s Eve with my lovely lady and some friends. We went to Atomic Vaudeville, the most eclectic production I’ve ever seen — it was a cross between Monty Python and SNL gone completely insane. Brilliant show and a completely ridiculous way to ring in the New Year. However, the purpose of going to Victoria was to meet with the folks at the McCoppin Institute of Learning, to discuss working together in the future. The meeting went so well that we started to design a forum that both Lacey and I can facilitate together — such an awesome concept considering she’s been an integral part to writing the story known as my life.

This personalized New Hampshire license plate says it all.

After Victoria I made it back home for a night to unpack and repack, and have a sit down for a community dinner with our neighbors. The following day I caught a flight to Montreal and drove down to New Hampshire for the U.S. Championships. I’m excited for an opportunity to ski fast and test my mettle against some of the top racers in the world.

Stay tuned for all the results, and stories from my upcoming adventures to Whistler and Aspen.

We focused the majority of our time testing and experimenting with some new ideas to make the sit ski perform even better than it already does. I’m not at liberty to divulge the details of what we were playing around with — but let me say that the changes we made will open up a new world of possibilities. In a sport where we measure in increments of time we noticed exponential gains.

We’re hoping to get this new prototype on the market fairly soon so that it can create new opportunities for aspiring world champions, freeskiers, and first-time skiers alike. Stay tuned. As an interesting side note, Nakiska is an international hub for early season training for some of the greatest able-bodied skiers in the world. I had the pleasure of training alongside one of the greatest of all time, Didier Cuche. I couldn’t resist introducing myself to him, and after chatting for a little bit he asked me if I could ski powder in my sit ski. I immediately showed him the Freedom Chair, and he was super impressed. He invited me for dinner and we spent most of the night talking about the future of both our sports. Didier’s an amazing athlete, a champion amongst champions.

After two weeks of solid training with the team I made my way back home for a week of rest and rejuvenation. Nothing beats hanging out with friends and family, and enjoying the simple pleasures in life like cooking, and taking my best bud Rome to the dog park.

Rome and I enjoy some time together before the first snowfall arrives.

I also had some great days in with m’lady at home, doing yoga, and riding up at my mountain. We lucked out and got an unusually good day for early season, which was a great way to start things off.

Living the dream with my girl.

Early season is a funny thing for me though. I usually have around 30 days of race training under my belt when the local hills are just opening, so when I get home all I want to do is shred so hard! But often, early season comes with plenty of hazards like exposed stumps, rocks, and terrain that haven’t filled in yet.

It’s so hard for me to gear down and ski smart, especially when I’m so amped for the winter ahead. I got caught being a little cheeky on opening day of the backside. I was running a bit too hard and landed on a stump, breaking my ski, and narrowly avoided disaster. Strong reminders that every run of every day is filled with challenges and hazards, and to properly assess the environment before dropping in. You simply have to respect the mountains no matter how many times you’ve ridden them.

Well it’s another week and another flight! I’m off to Colorado for some training and the first series of competitions for the season ahead. Always an exciting time of year — a great opportunity to put all the hard work and training to the test to see how you stack up against all the other skiers who live to ski fast!

jd

It’s been quite the week, month, and for that matter life has been hectic for me since last winter.  My summer was pretty full on with some intense projects to prepare my body and my equipment for the upcoming winter.  As well, I was both a student and teacher at a variety of health and well-being workshops.  I also had a chance to catch up with the Raise Your Hand team a few times as well this summer . . . a totally amazing crew spreading the good word on safe work.

Playing the Raise Your Hand game at a summertime event.

The balance of my summer was spent training with the Canadian Para Alpine Ski Team, and doing some fun stuff like wakeboarding and skydiving! Skydiving might have been the scariest and most exciting thing ever.  My friend Kristi Richards said it best: it’s the closest experience she’s ever had to being in the start gate at the Olympics. I agree.

Jogging at a fitness training camp in Hawaii.

Flashing forward to the past couple of weeks, life has been exceedingly amazing.  I’m back on snow training with the team, and am still on cloud 9 from the release of my latest project, The Freedom Chair. The film recently won the Best Film — Mountain Sports award at the Banff Mountain Film Festival, and the standing O from the 1,000 who saw the film really moved me.  I feel super fortunate to have been able to work with industry leader, Mike Douglas, on this film, and to be able to go get some deep powder turns at Chatter Creek with my buddy Abma.

Jamie Clarke from LiveOutThere.com presented me with the “Best Film — Mountain Sports” award at the Banff Mountain Film Festival.

So with all this great stuff happening, I’m actually starting to feel a little overwhelmed with things.  I’ve recently decided to cut back a little and centralize myself, rather than spend my winter travelling all over the world competing every week.  I’ll still train and compete this year, but focus my time and energy on the domestic circuit, and perhaps do some more filming and complete the X Games.

I’ll tell ya why: first of all it’s going to be so nice to slow things down and enjoy quality moments on the mountain rather than rushing all over the place.  Second, I can work on bettering my technique, and improving my equipment.  Third, and most importantly, I realize that when I get super busy sometimes I forget to pay attention to the details, and that’s when you get hurt.

Honestly, my decision to cut back this winter was inspired by the reoccurring dream that life was starting to look and feel a lot like it was just before I broke my back in 2004.  Too busy, always running around, and sometimes forgetting to pay attention to the details in my working environment — that’s when accidents happen.  Three young workers are permanently disabled on the job each week here in B.C.  So remember, if you have safety or health concerns, let your supervisor know.  It’s a big move for me to scale back when I’m at the height of my career, but to not learn from my past mistakes in life would be foolish.  I’m super lucky to be in the position in life that I’m in right now, and I want to continue moving forward, one step at a time.

Hope you enjoy the video, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Please post your comments, as I’d love to hear them.

Ma halo,

Jd

At the end of April I took a good hard look at my competition schedule for the next year and made the difficult decision to continue with law school through the summer. Basketball’s international season is the summer so that would mean doing classes while traveling extensively and training intensely. I chose to do this, however, because the Para PanAm Games are being held in Mexico in November. That means I have to be away for three weeks of that month which is a brutal time to be away, school-wise. This summer I’ve missed 6 weeks of class, but most of it was in the beginning or middle of the semester. The huge plus with going straight through the summer is that I will finish my law degree in August! I absolutely cannot wait. It has been a long three years.

In May I played in the National Championships in Quebec with Team BC. It was a tough tournament because our players are spread throughout North America and we never play together. Thus, while a very talented team on paper, we struggled. It was quite frustrating for all of us to look at ourselves, know we were good, and yet get beaten by less talented teams. Let that be a lesson for all you athletes out there — it doesn’t matter how fantastic the individual athletes on your team are. If you don’t practise together, you won’t win. At the end of the day, we finished fourth (which is a brutal spot to be in). Like last year, I left directly from the National Championships to the BT Paralympic Cup in Manchester, England. This was another difficult tournament. We had the Canadian team together for the first time in a long time but we were missing one key player and had some injuries to contend with. As such, a lot of odd lineups were played. On the plus side, I played with a lot of combinations I don’t normally see and it forced me into roles I don’t normally play. This was really enjoyable. On the downside, we lost every game (one in double overtime). So even though it was a learning experience, it was really frustrating.

In June I traveled with the team to Germany for a friendly series against the Germans and an extended training camp. We also brought along the Under 25 girls who needed practice for their World Championships which are happening right now in Ontario. In Germany, things started catching up with me. I had been experiencing some elbow problems while training at home that I’d tried to ignore and it turns out I was on the verge of severe tendonitis. Bad news for a wheelchair basketball player. Like everyone, athletes need to know their limits and listen to their bodies. I got a stern talking-to from our team physiotherapist who reminded me that I’m not doing anyone a favour by ignoring pain and trying to act tough. If I ignore symptoms, they will flare up into worse conditions, or an injury, that may have lasting and permanent effects. So pay attention and, if something hurts, stop doing it!

In Germany with some ice, tape, and spare wheels

In Germany I picked up two things: a brand new custom-made basketball chair from the German company Meyra and a horrible cold. Here’s the thing about colds when you’re an international athlete in competition: you can’t take anything because of drug restrictions. Like, nothing. No NeoCitron®, no cough medicine, nada. Writing this, it doesn’t sound so bad, but it was awful. The scratchy throat turned into a sinus infection, which turned into a chest cold, and pretty soon I couldn’t breathe. By this time we were in England playing a test series against the Brits but I was only well enough to play one quarter the whole time we were there. Eventually I was sent to hospital to make sure I was able to fly home with my limited breathing capacity and there they gave me some blessed antibiotics. Luckily I started getting better immediately.

The coolest thing we did on that trip (and maybe in my whole career) was do a demonstration in Trafalgar Square in London on Canada Day. They have a huge party in London for all the Canadians in England and we came out to play by the iconic fountain. I met Canada’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and a lot of fans who are looking forward to the Paralympics in 2012!

Playing hard on flagstones for onlooking Canadians in London

Team Canada in Trafalgar Square

Chatting with the High Commissioner, James R. Wright

It’s been far too long since I’ve dropped my pen onto paper, and thus have to retrace my calendar to bring you up to speed with my recent adventures.

The month of March ended with two great ski races, the Canadian Championships and the U.S. Championships.  To keep the story short and sweet, a couple of good buddies of mine from the U.S. Ski Team out skied me at the Canadian Championships and snatched the titles away from me, in my own backyard. It was a tough pill to swallow in front of all my friends and family.  On the flip side, up in Alaska for the U.S. Champs I was able to beat them on their turf, and I can now say that I am the U.S. Champion!!!  But even better than winning a couple of races at the end of the season was the fact that I was able to live out a dream of mine to ski in Alaska.  Big mountains, wild lines, and fantastic locals made it an all-time epic trip!  Big thanks to everyone at Challenge Alaska for all your hospitality and guidance in the mountains.

April was filled with lots of miscellaneous activities like recording a video game for the Raise Your Hand campaign in conjunction with WorkSafeBC. If you haven’t given it a go yet, DO IT!  It is a great way to raise awareness about young worker safety and good fun to boot. I also attended a few conferences and spent some time at home getting the gardens ready for spring planting.  At the end of the month I went to a ski hill called Nakiska for a two-week ski testing session.  The mountain was closed to the public, so it was just a handful of hard-core ski racer types that had full rule of the entire resort — it was a surreal experience to be on a mountain so quiet ~ plus as a bonus the conditions were perfect (cold and snowy like you would experience in January).  The verdict?  In my opinion Volkl skis are the ticket!  Their race skis are amazing and their line-up of freeride skis has me drooling.

In my spare time I’ve been in Vancouver a couple of times doing presentations and some appearances, keeping people stoked on their potential and what is possible.  I’ve also done a few trips out east to speak at some conferences as well; one in Ottawa in early May that was for the Canadian Paralympic Committee excellence series.  As a gathering of Canada’s top Paralympic athletes, we were given an open forum to share knowledge and experience to further our personal selves and the Paralympic movement.

On the home front, I’ve been doing some landscaping and gardening in my spare time, and my favorite pastime is spending some quality time at the dog park with my best pal Rome.

Well, spring is a sign of a New Year beginning for me . . . so stay posted, as there is lots of excitement coming down the barrel very soon.

For all those Canucks fans out there, see you on the streets as we cheer our team to victory!

GO ‘NUCKS GO!

Needless to say, it’s been a busy few months. In March, I won a second provincial championship with my Division II team, the Victoria Titans. This is one of my favourite teams that I play on and we had a total blast. We’re small (only 6 players), but we’re good, and we have a ton of fun. My husband Jon also plays on the team, so it’s a really great way for us to spend time together, while still engaging in athletic pursuits. I was also named to the tournament All-Star team which made me a happy camper.

Following that tournament I hopped on a plane and flew to Calgary, to play with the B.C. women’s provincial team in a friendly tournament with teams from Western Canada. I like to call these tournaments “Building Hope, Not Crushing Dreams,” because a large part of the weekend is spent teaching new players the ropes, and encouraging them to take larger roles on the court. As a national team athlete used to international play, it can be a bit challenging to rein in one’s natural tendencies to “crush dreams” and play super intensely, but it’s really important if we want to encourage new players. Wheelchair basketball is an extremely challenging sport to learn and having national team players around to mentor you is fantastic, as long as they are letting you play and not ripping the ball out of your hands. This is what I have to keep reminding myself.

Since coming home from Calgary, things have been a bit of a whirlwind. I’m in my last full-time semester of law school and the pressure is on. The amount of work that goes into a law degree is daunting, and I will be happy when it’s done. I have to scale back my training at this time of year, which is doubly frustrating because I want to be playing, but I have to be in the library. It’s a fine line indeed.

One nice break came on Sunday at the Pacific Institute of Sport Excellence Women in Sport Awards. I was nominated for Vancouver Island’s Athlete of the Year, so Jon and I were invited to attend the awards brunch. We sat at the VIP table along with Olympic Medallist Kristina Groves and other nominees. I got to catch up with some great friends including Paralympic racer Michelle Stilwell, and handcyclist Karen March — people I often only see in airports as we’re heading to our respective competitions. At the end of the brunch they announced the winners, and it turned out I had won! I was quite surprised and really pleased. 2010 was an awesome year for me and it was great to be recognized by the local sporting community.

Jessica and Jon at PISE Women in Sport Awards Brunch

I’ll leave this post with some thoughts that have been on my mind recently. While I’m sitting in the library cramming for finals, I occasionally hear snippets of conversations from students planning on going back to work for the summer, tree planting, or forest firefighting, or even just around town. Remember that while making money is important, nothing is more important than your life. It’s as simple as that. Often we young adults don’t realize how vulnerable we are out in the workplace. Think about why you want to make money and then think how that money is useless if you’re not around to enjoy it. So, while you’re making plans, plan to be safe as well.

Stay tuned and stay safe!