Playing wheelchair basketball is a life-altering experience for Arinn Young.
“It opened another door for me,” said the Team Canada hoopster from Legal who underwent multiple operations on her knees before switching from stand up to wheelchair basketball.
“I use to look at disabled people and be like, ‘Man, it would just be heartbreaking to be in a chair and having to live your life through a chair.’ But as soon as I started playing I got to know everyone and they told me their stories and how they’ve persevered through so many things. It still amazes me today.”
Young, 18, is able to walk normally and is classified as a 4.5-point player.
“It’s someone who has minimal disabilities. A 4.5 on the court can do almost everything because they have so much rotation and they’re basically able-bodied,” she explained. “We’re basically the ones that get into the key and become a post player.”
Young has made huge gains in the sport since her 2011 debut.
“It was a scrimmage with my our club team, the Alberta Northern Lights. It was basically my first practice too. I was really, really slow and I would try and attempt to dribble the ball and shoot and sometimes I would air ball it. When I finally got my first basket they were all cheering and I was really embarrassed,” she said. “They said I had a lot of potential to play wheelchair basketball and I kind of just laughed at them. I was like, ‘Really? I suck.’ I just wasn’t that good.”
The high school basketball product of the Morinville Lady Wolves described the wheelchair version as tougher and more aggressive than stand up. Controlling the ball and the wheelchair at the same time is not an easy feat.
“I’ve definitely improved on seeing the court better, like looking for that open player, looking to help get your teammates up court and just the smarter and right plays to make,” she said. “When I first started I was afraid to hold the ball or pass it to anyone and now I just scan the floor really well and I’ve actually got really fast too.
“Wheelchair basketball is just awesome.”
The turning point in Young’s career was at the 2013 nationals in Longueuil, Que., when she helped lead the Edmonton Inferno to the Canadian women’s championship and was named a tournament all-star.
“The national coach, Bill Johnson, came up to me and said, ‘You have potential. You have potential to be classified as a 4.5 and you have potential to make the senior team,’” she recalled. “Once he told me that, my goal was to get classified and make the senior team.”
Young was invited to the selection camp for the 2014 national team and was added to the roster for the world championship in Toronto as an injury replacement. The team’s youngest player averaged 4.7 points and 9:58 minutes in three games while watching 4.5-point standout Janet McLachlan of Vancouver light it up for Canada.
The five-foot-eight Young also pulled down nine of her 11 rebounds on defence.
“Even just being on the sideline watching them play was awesome,” she said. “I’m a team player and I’m really positive on the bench so I keep the girls positive. We were probably the loudest team out there cheering for our team.
“When I finally got to play my heart rate was probably at 150. My teammates were like, ‘You’re OK, we’ve got you.’ I probably bricked my first layup and I was really embarrassed.”
Young is among 10 returnees from worlds on the 12-player roster for the 2015 Parapan American Games in Toronto as Canada vies for a top-three finish to qualify for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Summer Games. Seven players also have Paralympic Games experience.
Young will also compete for Canada at the U25 worlds this summer.
“I went into tryouts with an open mind because anything can happen. I just played my heart out and hoped for the best with the outcome,” said the female MVP at the 2014 junior nationals with Team Alberta. “It’s a really big honour to get looked at by the Team Canada coach but just to be at tryouts is even a bigger honour because all the girls at tryouts (22 invitees) are the best in Canada in wheelchair basketball and still to this day I’m speechless I made the team.”
The selection camp was held in early December at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, home of the Wheelchair Basketball Canada National Academy where Young trains when she is not studying psychology at Centennial College in Toronto.
“I wanted to get fast and get my mental game more spic and span,” she said. “Honestly, I’m a whole new player. It’s crazy how they make you improve.”
Young has also ratcheted up her ability to drive the key.
“Some of the 4.5s will just shoot outside all the time and they’re really good shooting from the outside but usually the main job for the 4.5 is to get to the key and that’s what I’ve been working on,” said the Team Alberta player for the Canada Winter Games, Feb. 13 to 20 in Prince George, B.C.
