The waiting game is over for Arinn Young.
The excellent adventure on the road to Rio for the Team Canada wheelchair basketball player from Legal got rolling with Monday’s departure to the 15th Summer Paralympic Games.
“Oh my gosh! I’m just honoured and excited for the opportunity to represent Canada,” a bubbly Young told the Gazette on Sunday. “I’ve been getting texts this morning like hey, less than 24 hours to leave and how pumped up are you and I can’t even put it into words how excited I am. I barely slept last night thinking about it.
“It’s going to be really great. This is going to be my first Paralympic Games so I’m pretty excited to get to Rio and experience the thrill of competing at the pinnacle event in our sport.”
The multi-sport event for athletes with a disability starts Sept. 7 at most of the venues used for the recent Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“I watched some of the Olympics. I watched our wrestler (Erica Wiebe) win gold and then watching the national anthem I was getting butterflies and goose bumps,” Young said.
The first podium finish for Canada since winning bronze in 2004 at Athens is within reach for the No. 1-ranked team in the world.
“We just have to embrace the challenges and have fun in the process. Our team always goes through a bunch of challenges and we always seem to come out on top of them and I think that’s just what we have to do, take every day and every challenge that we face, all 12 of us, and take it from there,” Young said.
Despite major budget cuts by the Rio organizing committee, affecting the workforce, transport and venues, the Paralympics are still good to go.
Ten countries were also struggling to finance sending teams to Rio because of the late arrival of National Paralympic Committee grants from the organizing committee, according to International Paralympic Committee president Philip Craven.
At a recent news conference, Craven described the current issues surrounding the Games as the most difficult in the 56-year history of Paralympics. He also noted ticket sales are slower than expected.
Young, 20, was asked to comment on the state of the Paralympics in Rio.
“I feel like I’m not the best person to comment on that,” she said. “As athletes in our program we’re really focused on what we can control and that’s our performance on court. We can’t really control anything else. We’ve worked pretty hard to get to this point and I think we’re focused on playing the best basketball in Rio and we’re not really focused on anything else.”
The 2014 gold medallists at worlds in Toronto will hoop it up against Germany (No. 2 in the world), Great Britain, Argentina and Brazil.
The Netherlands (No. 3 in the world), United States (No. 4 in the world), France, China and Algeria form group B.
Germany, Australia and Netherlands finished one-two-three at the London 2012 Paralympics and Canada placed sixth at 4-3.
“Anyone really that is going to the Paralympics is really a tough team so we’re just kind of taking it day by day and game by game. Obviously our end goal is to possibly medal,” Young said. “I’m really pumped to play all of them. Our team has been training hard every day to be our very best for the Paralympics.”
The last tune-up for Canada was the Continental Clash in early August at Worcester, Great Britain against the Netherlands, France, Germany and the host country. Canada placed fourth at 2-3 with two losses against the Brits and one against the Netherlands.
“I loved it. It was really fun and really good to see our team start to come together and realize our potential,” Young said. “It was a really good tournament for all of us. We get put into situations all the time to just get us ready for the Paralympics and in one of our games there half of our equipment was taken off or messed up and it was because in Rio it might happen or your tire might be flat in a game, it just might happen, so they undid the air in our tires.
“We didn’t make a big fuss about it because we’re like, this happens all the time at practice.”
Expecting the unexpected is part of the game plan for the youngest player on the 2014 world champions.
“I was a completely different player at worlds than I am now,” said Young, the only Albertan and one of six Paralympic newbies on Canada’s roster for Rio. “I was always scared all time but now when I go out there I’m like OK, same people, same game, same court, same rules so let’s play. I’m more of a threat now because I’m not scared to shoot the ball. I’m like, this is my shot and I’m going to take it, stuff like that.
“Obviously on defence I’m a lot better at that too.”
Young switched from standup to wheelchair hoops in 2011 after several knee operations and on the court the five-foot-eight high school basketball product of the Morinville Lady Wolves is classified as a 4.5 player, with minimal disabilities and can walk.
Last year with Young in the lineup, Canada claimed silver at the 2015 Parapan American Games in Toronto for qualification at the Paralympics and placed fourth at the Women’s U25 World Champion in Beijing.
Young was also named the MVP at the 2014 junior nationals with Team Alberta and is a three-time all-star selection at the CWBL Women’s National Championship with the Edmonton Inferno.
“I’m a really positive and passionate person and you really see that when I play. I find I really bring everyone’s energy up,” she said. “I know I can’t play like certain athletes on our team so my goal for Rio is just play like how I play and show the world what Canada is made of.
“I’m just going to be a kind of a sponge at the Paralympics and take in all the moments and how I feel and how Rio is and just absorb everything like I did at worlds. I’m just going to play with my heart on my sleeve the whole time.”
After the Paralympics, Young will return to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa for her sophomore season. Alabama placed third overall at college nationals and Young was named to the all-rookie and first all-star teams.
“School will have already started when I get back there. I take a week off and then start playing more hoops,” said the kinesiology student, who joined Alabama after a season in Toronto studying psychology at Centennial College while training at the Wheelchair Basketball Canada National Academy at the Pan Am Sports Centre in Scarborough, Ont.
In the meantime, it’s all about Rio and wearing the Maple Leaf with pride.
“I really can’t wait to go,” said Young, who can be followed on Twitter at @Dah_Juice.
