ABSTRACT
Paralympic sport in Canada traces its roots back to the 1950s, following a similar path to what occurred at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in the United Kingdom. Returning war veterans were encouraged to use sport as therapy and the earliest disability sport teams were wheelchair basketball clubs in Montreal and Vancouver. In the late 1960s wheelchair sport organized itself nationally to eff ectively host a Pan-American Wheelchair Games in Winnipeg in 1967 and to ensure that a team could compete at the 1968 Paralympic Games in Israel. The Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association was offi cially formed in 1969 with other disability sport organizations following in the late 1970s after Canada’s hosting of the 1976 Paralympic Games in Toronto (Legg, 2000). The Canadian Paralympic Committee was formed thereafter with Canada next hosting the Paralympic Games in 2010 in Vancouver. During this time a number of Canadian icons within the Paralympic movement, including Rick Hansen and Robert Steadward, the fi rst President of the International Paralympic Committee, helped the movement evolve and fl ourish. A number of Paralympic coaches from Canada have also been recognized as pioneers and trailblazers within their sport and movement. Ozzie Sawicki, profi led here, is one of these outstanding coaches and leaders.
