Video coverage from the 2011 Canadian Nationals in Edmonton

AccessibleMedia were filming at the 2011 Canadian Nationals in Edmonton. Coverage included comments from Cathy Craig, Joe Rea and Bruno Yizek.

"We should make it to the playoffs" - Host Team coach Cathy Craig

Edmonton's Host Team

Cliff Nuspl skip, Mike McMullan, Warren Fleury, Shawna Walsh, Coach Cathy Craig
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Cathy Craig is manager of the Jasper Place CC in Edmonton and the event manager for the Canadian Nationals that begin there on Monday. She is also coaching the Edmonton Host Team, skipped by Cliff Nuspl.

This is Craig's first year coaching a wheelchair team but she sounded confident of their prospects, telling the Edmonton Journal: "We should make it to the playoffs. They're solid. They just have trouble in big games."

The Host team open with games against Ontario and BC and finish against the Calgarian provincial champions.

"Whenever there's a national championship, no matter the sport or the level of play, a national championship is a national championship," Craig told the Edmonton Examiner. "You're representing your province, you're trying to win for the country."

The championship will feature the "Tire Patch", offering live entertainment in the club's lounge on Friday and Saturday night.

The Edmonton Journal reported that Jasper Place agreed to stage this year's Nationals after Brandon MB backed out. It is a huge undertaking, and a good sense of what is involved can be gleaned from this blog entry by Lisa Shamchuck who will be compiling scores and making entries on the CCA's website as well as tweeting on each day's events.

Edmonton's Mike McMullen profiled

Photograph by Trevor Robb

Mike McMullen. who will be playing 3rd for Cliff Nuspl's Host Team at the 2011 Nationals in Edmonton March 20-27, is profiled in the WestEdmontonLocal.

Injured in fall 26 years ago, McMullen took up sports about ten years after his injury, first playing rugby and then curling.

“It keeps you active, keeps you motivated, gets you out in the public,” McMullen said.

There's one topic that he and Calgary's Jack Smart agree: the insistence that teams be of mixed gender is hindering the devlopment of the sport. "“It’s not holding the sport back in any way due to their skill levels, just there’s not a lot of them out there,” he maintains.

You can read the full profile HERE.

Cathy Craig, the Host Team coach and manager of Jasper Place CC where the Nationals will take place, has agreed her team can live at home during the Championship.

“What people don’t understand about wheelchair athletes when they travel is it’s hard work. It’s a challenge getting in and out of bed and going to the bathroom and getting out of the tub because most hotel rooms aren’t well equipped,” said Craig.

“Our team has chosen to stay home. By the end of the week when everyone else is tired because all their daily tasks are just so difficult, we should still be rested,” said Craig. “I just think it’s a huge advantage for us.”

Do you agree?