“Honestly, through those injuries, my career and success has been skyrocketing,” Young said. “I owe it to my injuries.”
Young played stand-up basketball for ten years, winning more than 15 MVP awards and two city championships before tearing her ACL in her right knee during a game. Her left knee would be blown out during a game shortly after, breaking both her femur and tibia in the process, ultimately ending her stand-up basketball career.
But Young has found success and recognition in the last seven years playing wheelchair basketball and was awarded the Grosso Hooper Law Female Athlete of the Year at the Canadian Wheelchair Basketball League’s (CWBL) National Championship in Charlottetown, P.E.I, in April.
“I’m a little bit still shocked. I really wasn’t expecting the award, I just like to work hard.” Young said. “But it’s an honour. This is my first time ever getting an award like this and I’m really proud of myself and my trainee staff who has gotten me to where I am today.”
Young also credits her success to all of her teammates and family.
“I don’t get to see (my family) as much as I would like to and sometimes it sucks,” Young said. “But being a high-performance athlete and having them there behind me every step of the way is very supporting.
“My coaching staff are always pushing me to be my best and my athletes that are around me every single day. I’m in a very good training environment.”
Wheelchair basketball differs from stand-up basketball in a few ways, aside from the athletes being in wheelchairs.
“Double dribble isn’t a thing,” Young said, laughing. “You know, since we can’t use our legs.”
The game also has more fouls due to the fact that hitting players in certain parts of their wheelchair can cause injuries to the athletes.
“Going from 10 years of stand-up to now seven years in wheelchair basketball, I personally think that wheelchair basketball is way better and I’m not being biased,” Young said. “But just mentally, physically, how we have to manoeuvre certain situations, it’s just way better.”
Young is currently in Toronto, training with Team Canada, one of three teams Young competes with. She also plays for the University of Alabama and the Edmonton Inferno, but is focusing on training for the Paralympic Games happening in Tokyo in 2020. The team’s first stop will be in Lima, Peru for the qualifiers.
“I’m focusing on qualifying for Tokyo,” Young said. “Then once we qualify, all sights are on a medal in Tokyo 2020."
