Watch above: The realization her athletic career may be cut short due to numerous knee surgeries was hard to handle for former Saskatchewan Huskie Erica Gavel. As Kim Thue reports, she has revived her hardcourt career with a spot on Canada’s senior national wheelchair basketball team.
SASKATOON – Just two years ago, the realization that her athletic career may be cut short due to numerous knee surgeries was hard to handle for former Saskatchewan Huskie Erica Gavel.
“When I sit back and reflect to two year ago, when I was doing my homework trying not to cry, it leaves me speechless,” admits Gavel. “At that point in my life I had a bazillion different plans that didn’t involve basketball.”
What seemed like the end was actually just the beginning. Gavel soon discovered wheelchair basketball and after just two years competing in the sport, she earned a roster spot on Canada’s Senior National Team.
“For me it was really eye opening in that anything is possible and it’s never too late to start something,” says Gavel.
MORE: Former U of S Huskies player leaving mark on wheelchair basketball
The transition for Gavel from conventional to wheelchair basketball is actually something the 23-year-old picked up quickly, because of her time at the University of Saskatchewan.
“Wheelchair basketball is going away from a slow, methodical type of offence to a very fast paced transition type of game,” explains the Team Canada rookie. “My advantage is that playing university here, I already know how this type of offence works.”
Because of four knee surgeries in a four year span, Gavel’s disability classification is 4.5, which is the lowest disability required to compete at the international level. She trains roughly four-and-half-hours daily, Monday to Friday.
That hard work has paid off. The Prince Albert product and her teammates will compete in the 2015 Pan-American Games taking place in Toronto next August, which is the qualification tournament for the 2016 Paralympics Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“It’s crunch time. I put in so much work. Yes, I’ve only been playing wheelchair (basketball) for the last two years, but this is something I’ve wanted for the last 20 years. It’s really difficult for me to wrap my head around that in roughly a year my dreams could potentially come true.”
What Gavel has already accomplished as a newcomer to the sport is remarkable. By time the Paralympics come around, she could be at an entirely different level.
“The amount of work I know I can get done in a year is what I find very inspiring and motivating. I honestly don’t put limits on things because I don’t know how far I can go.”
While one door closed two years ago because of injuries, another has opened for Gavel and she’s wasted no time running through it in order to chase a lifelong dream.
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