{"id":20375,"date":"2020-12-08T09:00:02","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T17:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=20375"},"modified":"2020-12-09T08:48:08","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T16:48:08","slug":"camosun-visual-arts-student-shoots-for-2024-paralympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2020\/12\/08\/camosun-visual-arts-student-shoots-for-2024-paralympics\/","title":{"rendered":"Camosun Visual Arts student shoots for 2024 Paralympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Second-year Camosun Visual Arts student Ben Hagkull is spending his time these days training at the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence and at UVic\u2019s CARSA facility hoping to qualify for the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris. The sports sector has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic; the wheelchair-basketball player is among many athletes who have been able to train partially as a result of Canadian Tire Jumpstart charity\u2019s Sport Relief Fund, which has aided 668 Canadian organizations with a total of $8 million to help cover gym time, cleaning supplies, and PPE. Among the recipients is the B.C. Wheelchair Basketball Society, of which Hagkull is a member.<\/p>\n

Born with spina bifida\u2014which essentially means, says Hagkull, there aren\u2019t enough muscles in his legs to allow him to walk\u2014he always did as many things as possible to live a normal life, he says, despite having a severed spine as a result of the condition.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up in the school systems, I never felt that I was being bullied or I was different from other people,\u201d he says, \u201cbut I just always had that desire to do what others did.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a kid, he tried wheelchair tennis, sledge hockey, and whatever else caught his eye. But basketball\u2014a sport that was always present in his house growing up\u2014really captured him.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing how high-level [Paralympic basketball players] can get, and how much more intense they can get, it really made me want to pursue it,\u201d says Hagkull. \u201cThat\u2019s the thing that I wanted to do, and I wanted to be able to play for my country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed Hagkull’s training process\u2014he’s only been able to book one day a week in the gym, but he\u2019s been making the best of going to the track near PISE, which he says is better training in some ways. For example, the resistance of the track beneath his chair wheels means he has to push harder, so when he gets back into the gym where there\u2019s less resistance, it seems a little easier.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Camosun Visual Arts student Ben Hagkull (photo provided).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had to adapt a lot of things that I would do on the court, in the gym, to be done outside,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s been tough for a lot of high-level athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he\u2019s on the track rain or shine. Waking up at 7 am and looking outside into the pouring rain can be tough, but he always goes out; he even says with a chuckle that he\u2019s looking forward to training in the snow. The push of envisioning a gold metal around his neck gets him out to the track, even on the most miserable winter day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make a Paralympic team,\u201d he says. \u201cI want to wear a gold metal around my neck.\u201d<\/p>\n

On top of his usual training, using outside facilities means that he also has to spend more time on chair maintenance.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to change tubes and tires; you\u2019ve got to clean out your front casters\u2014the little wheels in the front\u2014because they get a lot of hair in them,\u201d he says. \u201cYou want to make sure you\u2019re pushing without any gunk in your wheels so it\u2019s as smooth as it can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout all his training, he doesn\u2019t take his eyes off the prize. And the feeling of putting on a Canada jersey wouldn\u2019t be new for Hagkull, as he\u2019s travelled internationally with the Men’s U23 National Team.<\/p>\n

\u201c[It\u2019s] such an amazing feeling knowing that you have the whole country on your back, basically,\u201d he says. \u201cIt comes with an immense source of pride.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hagkull’s parents were always supportive of whatever he wanted to do; coming from an athletic family meant that sports were never far from his mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey tried to give me the most normal childhood, and I think they succeeded in that,\u201d says Hagkull. \u201cWanting to lead a more normal life is what I wanted, and what I still strive to do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Second-year Camosun Visual Arts student Ben Hagkull is spending his time these days training at the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence and at UVic\u2019s CARSA facility hoping to qualify for the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris. The sports sector has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic; the wheelchair-basketball player is among many athletes who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[238,8,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-sports","category-sports","category-webexclusive"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20375"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20377,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20375\/revisions\/20377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}