Kady Dandeneau

Started: She began playing wheelchair basketball in 2015. (wheelchairbasketball.ca, 01 Jan 2020) Reason: A former non-Para basketball player, she was introduced to wheelchair basketball by former Canadian national team coach Tim Frick. "Tim suggested early on I should give the wheelchair game a try. Still as the injury got worst and I was coming to the realisation that I would never play stand-up at the same level, I was still holding on to hope. Then one day in 2015, he just told me he signed me up for a wheelchair basketball tryout." (wheelchairbasketball.ca, 01 Jan 2020, 11 May 2020; paralympic.ca, 24 Jul 2019) 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. (princegeorgematters.com, 20 Apr 2020; wheelchairbasketball.ca, 11 May 2020) In 2019 she was named Female Player of the Year in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association [NWBA] collegiate division. She has also earned All-American honours and a selection to the All-Rookie team at collegiate level. (wheelchairbasketball.ca, 11 May 2020) Additional Info: PASSION REKINDLED She says that taking up wheelchair basketball helped her rediscover her passion for sport. "It was a pretty tough blow. Sports, especially basketball, had always been my number-one passion. I put a lot of my life into it. Getting the opportunity to compete at a high level again, I can't even explain how awesome that was. It was a huge turning point. It made me so happy to compete again and for Team Canada on top of that. It's had a fantastic effect on my life." (paralympic.ca, 24 Jul 2019) HIGHER EDUCATION She has studied for a masters degree in kinesiology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the United States of America. (wheelchairbasketball.ca, 11 May 2020; paralympic.ca, 01 Jan 2023)