Arinn Young

Started: She began playing wheelchair basketball at age 15 in Edmonton, AB, Canada. (Athlete, 17 Jun 2016) Reason: After injuring her knees playing non-Para basketball in 2011, family friend and wheelchair basketball coach Max MacMillan encouraged her to try wheelchair basketball. (Athlete, 17 Jun 2016; wheelchairbasketball.ca, 01 Jan 2020) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (paralympic.ca, 16 Apr 2024; cbc.ca, 20 Apr 2024) Awards: In 2019 she was named Wheelchair Basketball Canada's Female Athlete of the Year. (wheelchairbasketball.ca, 02 Jul 2019) In 2019 she was named Most Valuable Player at the US College National Championships. (wheelchairbasketball.ca, 01 Jan 2020) She was named Most Valuable Player [MVP] at the 2018 Canadian Wheelchair Basketball League [CWBL] Women's National Championship. (paralympic.ca, 01 Jan 2024) Additional Info: LEAVING CLUB She announced that she will leave German club Rhine River Rhinos at the end of the 2023/24 1. Bundesliga season. "I am incredibly grateful to have been able to start my professional career with such a great club and team. A huge thank you to the fans for the incredible support during my years with the Rhinos. You made every game special. A huge thank you to my teammates and the club for making me fall in love with the sport every time I stepped on the field." (rhine-river-rhinos.de, 25 Jun 2024) MOVING ABROAD In 2020 she moved to Germany to play for the Rhine River Rhinos. She says she found the move tough, especially given the COVID-19 pandemic which restricted the amount of contact she had with teammates both at club and international level. "I've always wanted to play in Germany. As soon as I started my wheelchair basketball career, I was always around veteran athletes like Paralympians Tara Feser and Karla Tritten, and they did the college scene and then went and played overseas. I've always admired them for being able to graduate and further their careers in the sport. Moving to a different continent takes some adjusting. I find Germans are kind of like Canadians, they're really helpful and ready to lend a hand if you need it. It's been a decently smooth transition. I've gone from training by myself back home to now getting to practice with 8-10 players. I love that. It's great and it's much better than my summer. I just love training and I like working hard. It's not a job for me but something I enjoy doing. Being one of the few athletes away from their country and family, I'm not going to lie, it's hard. With the time change, they'll be team meetings I can't make because I have practice at night or it's just too late for me. So it's tough, I feel very out of place but this has been the best decision to come here and play." (wheelchairbasketball.ca, 08 Mar 2021)