Burnaby wheelchair basketball star Amanda Yan received a high honour from the B.C. Wheelchair Basketball Society last week – the Wheelchair Basketball Canada True Sport Award.
The True Sport award is an annual award given to an elite athlete who demonstrates a commitment to fair play and inclusion, according to the society’s website. This is the second award Yan’s won recently. Last month, she was named the B.C. Wheelchair Basketball Society’s Female Athlete of the Year.
“It’s a huge honour,” she told the NOW on Monday. “I was shocked when they called my name.”
Yan was bashful as she described the evening she received the female athlete of the year, adding the plaque listed a number of exceptional athletes and she couldn’t believe she was now among those listed.
“I was really touched I was selected,” she said.
When Yan isn’t in class at the University of British Columbia or competing around the world, she spends her time visiting elementary and high schools in the Lower Mainland, sharing her story and her passion for wheelchair basketball with school kids.
“I think it’s really important to share my story because I can’t change what happened,” she said.
Yan has been playing wheelchair basketball since 2011, after a snowboarding accident nearly six years ago left her paralyzed from the waist down.
Since the accident, Yan has been very active both as an athlete and a role model. In 2012, she won the Canadian Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Championships while playing for the B.C. Breakers. Last year, the Breakers placed fifth in the annual event and this year Yan said they’re looking to reclaim the gold medal when the tournament returns to Richmond in two weeks.
“I’m pumped,” she said. “It’s really exciting to play in front of friends and family. It’s just nice to be home.”
In addition to her recent awards, Yan was also named to the CIBC Team Next in 2013, a national program made up of 67 athletes from across the country.
Yan and the B.C. Breakers, which includes Paralympians Jessica Vliegenthart and Janet McLachlan, will take on teams from across the country on April 25, 26 and 27 at the Richmond Olympic Oval. The Breakers kick off the tournament at 1 p.m. on April 25 against Saskatchewan.
For more information and a full schedule of games, visit www.2014cwwbc.com.
