Josh Vander Vies
Date of Birth: December 28, 1984
Height/Weight: 90cm/64kg
Club: Metro Vancouver Boccia Club
Coach: Wagner Rulli, Ed Richardson, Herb Torrence, Mario Delisle
Birth Place: Sarnia, ON
Hometown: Sarnia, ON
Residence: Vancouver, BC
Classification: BC4
Event: Individual and Pairs
Disability Type: Amputee
Josh Vander Vies started competing at an elite level in 2003. He competed in the Athens 2004 Paralympics; the 2011 Parapan American Games where he won a bronze medal; the 2006 and 2011 World Championships; the 2003 and 2007 World Cups; and holds two silver and one bronze medal from the 2005 and 2009 Americas Cup.
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Vander Vies is a student at the University of British Columbia in the Faculty of Law and holds an honors double major in Political Science and French from the University of Western Ontario. A powerful inspirational speaker, Vander Vies brings to corporate, government and community audiences the message that any obstacle can be shattered.
In 2006, Vander Vies was elected to the International Boccia Committee as Athlete Representative by the boccia players of the world. He acts as Athlete Council Representation on the Canadian Paralympic Committee Board of Directors. He is also a 2003 national Terry Fox Humanitarian Award recipient.
Vander Vies’ career highlight was receiving the bronze medal, in front of passionate Mexican boccia fans, at the 2011 Parapan American Games in Guadalajara.
He knows that elite performances such as this one are only possible with the exceptional support of his sport assistant Dalia Mykolaitiene, strength coach Wagner Rulli, and national boccia coaches Ed Richardson and Mario Delisle.
Check out his profile on the Canadian Paralympic Committee’s website.
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