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Canada’s seven-a-side football team at Parapanamerican Games buoyed by BC players

14 August 2007
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (August 14) – Canada’s seven-a-side football (soccer) team that’s currently competing at the Parapanamerican Games has west coast ties: eight of the 12 players come from British Columbia.
 
A driving force behind spreading the sport in Canada is the team’s goalkeeper Ross MacDonald, of Vancouver, BC, who coordinates the seven-a-side football program nationally and also provincially through his day job at SportAbility BC.
 
“I’ve played soccer since I was six or seven years old until I was 13. But then I stopped because it was getting harder to keep up with able-bodied athletes,” he said. “I didn’t want to stop playing. It feels good to play soccer again.”
 
British Columbia is the only province that has a full seven-a-side football program and we really promote it, adds MacDonald.
 
Also a wheelchair basketball player, MacDonald opted to compete in seven-a-side football at the Parapanamerican Games.
 
“I felt with soccer, I could make a big contribution to the team,” he said. “I enjoy developing the sport and seeing soccer in its infancy stages. It’s not like I’ve retired from wheelchair basketball but with this trip, soccer is the focus.”
 
Canada, which lost 2-1 in its opener Monday against Argentina, plays Columbia on Wednesday, August 15.
 
“Columbia is a big game for us. If we beat Columbia we qualify for the world championships in November back here in Rio de Janeiro. If we win, and we will also move onto the crossover (at the Parapanamerican Games), most likely against Brazil to see who plays in the final,” stated MacDonald.
 
The top eight teams at the worlds in November advance to the Beijing 2008 Summer Paralympic Games.
 
Canada’s national seven-a-side football program was started in 2002. In 2003, the Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sport Association (CCPSA) held an introduction program in Kelowna, BC.
 
The national team has developed significantly since 2004, when Soccer Canada teamed with the CCPSA to develop the seven-a-side program. Soccer Canada provides the football expertise, while the CCPSA is strong in working with athletes with a physical disability.
 
Canada’s seven-a-side football team at the Parapanamerican Games consists of:
 
Matthew Brown, of Fraserville, ON
Jeffrey Buckland, of Vancouver, BC
Adam Burnell, of Duncan, BC
Christopher Duehrsen, of North Delta, BC
Dustin Hodgson, of Vancouver, BC
Daniel Kaemingk, of Thunder Bay, ON
Ross MacDonald, of Burnaby, BC
John Phillips, of Collingwood, ON
Todd Phillips, of Powell River, BC
Sefik Smajlovic, of Vancouver, BC
Scott Van-Den Boogaard, of Langley, BC
Derek Whitson, of Chatham, ON
 
The head coach is Drew Ferguson of Powell River, BC.

 

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