Colin Higgins

Started: He began playing the sport in 2014. (wheelchairbasketball.ca, 11 Nov 2019) Reason: He was introduced to the sport by a friend of his mother. "I injured my leg, my knee and my ankle in 2012 and started playing wheelchair basketball in the winter of 2014. My mum's a nurse, she works with an occupational therapist who plays wheelchair basketball and she said, 'Hey, come try it out'. As soon as I tried it I fell in love with the sport. I felt like myself again." (komu.com, 15 Oct 2019; studentaffairs.missouri.edu, 01 Aug 2019) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (paralympic.ca, 24 Oct 2023, 10 Apr 2024) Awards: In 2019 while at the University of Missouri he was named to the NWBA Collegiate All-American first team. (wheelchairbasketball.ca, 06 Jul 2020) Additional Info: GIVING BACK He is studying for a degree in sports management at the University of Missouri and says his aim after basketball is to work within Para sports. "In my mind I'd really like to work for Parasport New Brunswick or the Canadian Paralympic Committee in some sort of coaching or managerial role, whether it be within wheelchair basketball or recruitment or just in that kind of world. I want to give back to people that I know need it. There's just so little exposure for Para sport at the grassroots level within Canada. I know I'm relatively new to the sport still as I've only been playing for about six years [speaking in 2020]. But it's done a lot for me so far and I'm hopeful it's going to give me a lot more, and I just hope to be able to give some of that back eventually when I'm done." (wheelchairbasketball.ca, 06 Jul 2020)