Newfoundland's Liam Hickey makes national wheelchair basketball team
A teen from Newfoundland and Labrador has been drafted to play on Canada's national wheelchair basketball team.
Liam Hickey of St. John's first got introduced to the sport through the local Easter Seals program when he was eight or nine years old.
"I really loved the sport and stuck with it," he told CBC's St. John's Morning Show.
"When I was 11 I got called up to the junior team with Team Canada."
Hickey was born without a femur in his right leg. He said the intensity of wheelchair basketball drew him in, and he's never looked back.
"I saw the true pace of the sport and it's just incredible," he said.
"When chairs collide it's a pretty heavy impact."
Hickey plays in the Maritime Wheelchair Basketball Association (MWBL).
While playing in the MWBL allowed him to develop as a player and improve his skills, Hickey's big goal was to make the national team.
"A lot of determination, I never really gave up on the dream of being on the national team and I wanted to try and be the youngest to ever make the team," he said.
"Right now I'm tied with another guy, Richard Peter from BC, for the youngest on the team."
The road to Rio
This week, Hickey is in Toronto for a major tournament with the team, which will put him up against their biggest rivals from the United States.
"There's a big rivalry between Canada the US, just like any sport," he said.
"This is pretty much going to turn into how we're going to play in the Pan Am Games."
If the team finishes in at least the top two spots, they get to head to Rio de Janeiro in 2016 for the Paralympic Games.
Hickey hopes his story will inspire others to not let their disabilities get in the way of what they want to achieve.
"Never give up on a dream just because of a disability or any reason at all," he said.
"Put your head down and work hard and do the best you can do."