(Vancouver, BC) – BC Wheelchair Sports Association is thrilled to announce that Garett Hickling (originally from Kelowna, BC) and Duncan Campbell (Vancouver, BC) will be inducted in the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
“Both Garett and Duncan have had an enormous impact on both wheelchair rugby worldwide and in the BC sport community,” said BCWSA Executive Director Gail Hamamoto. “We are so thrilled to see them take their place alongside other British Columbian sports greats.”
Garett Hickling began playing wheelchair rugby in 1993 after a fall off a cliff left him a quadriplegic. He quickly established a reputation as one of the best wheelchair rugby players in the world. Garett has participated in every single World Championships and Paralympic Games in wheelchair rugby’s history, winning four Paralympic medals (three silvers and a bronze) and five World Championship medals (one gold, two silvers and two bronzes). He was named MVP in the first three Wheelchair Rugby World Championships, including in 2002 when he led Canada to a gold medal over the USA.
Wheelchair rugby would literally not exist without Duncan Campbell. He invented the sport in 1976 in a gym in Winnipeg with several friends, and has been a passionate advocate and builder ever since. In his former role as a Recreation Therapist at G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Center, he recruited and mentored an entire generation of B.C. wheelchair athletes, including Paralympians like Ian Chan and Trevor Hirschfield. Today, he is active within the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation and works as the National Development Director and Bridging the Gap Program National Coordinator for the Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association, where he continues to develop wheelchair rugby. This year, Duncan received the International Paralympic Order, which is the highest honour in the para-sport movement.
The induction ceremony will take place on May __, 2015.