Team photo: Members of the Bulldogs de Quebec are, from left, Sam Graham (#14), Maxime Poulin (#8), Philippe Vermette (#9), Mickael Poulin (#11), Pierre Poulin (team manager in red shirt), Jonathan Vermette (#10), Kevin Poulin (#15) and Mickael Bouffard (#12). Photo courtesy of Wheelchair Basketball of Canada.
by CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
BEACHBURG — Sam Graham is a gold-medal wheelchair basketball player.
The Bulldogs de Quebec seized its third consecutive national championship title at the 2016 Canadian Wheelchair Basketball League (CWBL) National Championship at the Tournament Capital Centre in Kamloops, B.C. on Sunday, April 24.
This is Graham’s first season with the Bulldogs, which is a Triple A wheelchair basketball team. This is a high-level style of basketball for those players who can be on provincial and national teams, he said.
A member for the past seven years with the Double A Ottawa Jazz, Graham was asked to be on the Triple A Bulldog’s team.
“They needed a player to fill out the roster and they asked me,” he said, adding, “I was the best available one-pointer around.”
Explaining, Graham, who has cerebral palsy, said in wheelchair basketball there is a classification for impairment, going from one to 4.5, with one being the highest level of impairment.
There are also no positions played, it’s just working together to score the baskets, he said. However, Graham has been the Pick and Seal player of the year for the Ottawa Jazz for the last two years.
As a pick and seal player, he tries to ensure the player who has the ball gets an opportunity to get to the basket by coming between an opponent and the person with the ball.
“There’s a lot of strategy involved,” Graham said.
This was Graham’s first trip to the Canadian Wheelchair Basketball League championship.
Growing up in Beachburg, Graham tried many sports, but said, “I like the inclusive nature” of wheelchair basketball.
“It’s for people who are able-bodied to those who aren’t,” he said. “The chair becomes part of your body.”
Graham has been invited back to play with the Bulldogs next season, but it will depend on his schedule. A student in the social work program at Carleton University in Ottawa, he is hoping for a job on campus next year. So, it could be that any extra time he has may be used for studying or working.
The Bulldogs have a flawless 4-0 record and extend their undefeated streak to 14 games dating back to 2014.
The gold medal win comes after a dominant performance in the final match against the Scarbarian Tigers. The first half of the game saw the teams exchanging leads, but Quebec pulled ahead and shut down the Tigers’ attempts to catch up. Maxime Poulin added 37 points in the 61-48 decision for Quebec while Bo Hedges and Peter Won countered with 12 points each for the Tigers.
The medal games concluded three days of intense wheelchair basketball competition in which 10 club teams from across Canada showcased their speed, skill and athleticism.
— with information from a CWB press release.
