Better now than at the Games.
Okotokian Zak Madell and the Canadian Wheelchair Rugby Team turned in an inauspicious performance in finishing out of the medals at the Canada Cup — the international precursor to the Paralympic Games — last weekend in Richmond, B.C.
“It was definitely a bit of a wake up call for us,” Madell said. “It wasn’t one of our best performances we only won three out of our six games, a couple upset losses against Japan, the Americans.
“It just shows us we have a little work to do still in the next couple months leading up to Rio.”
The first-ranked team entering the competition, Canada finished with a 3-3 record at the Richmond Olympic Oval and wrapped up proceedings with a loss to the gold-medal winning Team U.S. The reigning Paralympic champion Australia finished second while Japan was third.
Canada’s performance was likely influenced by a number of factors out of its control. From key injuries and absences to personal issues, the team has endured a challenging few months.
Madell was making his return from an eight-month absence from international play due to an upper body injury. He called his health level 100 per cent at the event.
“It’s just finding that chemistry and getting our mojo flowing again,” Madell said. “We would rather be figuring this out now than two months from now when we’re at the Paralympics and it’s big game time.
“Hopefully everyone will keep this in mind when we go back home and do our training and it will light a fire under us.”
The Canucks will get back to work with centralized training on Vancouver Island over the coming months before descending on South America.
The wheelchair rugby portion of the Paralympic Games runs from Sept. 14-18.
“We’ve got a couple training camps together with the team leading up to the Games,” he said. “So we can hopefully iron out some of those kinks and make sure everything is running smoothly once we get to Brazil.”
The team has everything in place so the sojourn to Brazil goes smoothly.
Despite the storm clouds gathering over the Rio Games – from the threat of Zika Virus to overall safety concerns — Madell never thought of cancelling his trip to the event.
“The media sometimes around the Olympics likes to blow things out of proportion if there is one little issue going on,” he said. “It’s nothing we want to underestimate or want to joke around with, but at the same time we’ve got such a good support staff around us.
“As long as we’re smart about it and take all the precautions while we’re down there, we shouldn’t have to worry about that and will be able to focus on our game.”
The Holy Trinity Academy graduate has considerable history at the event.
As the new guy on the squad, the Okotokian truly announced his arrival on the international elite. He led Canada in scoring en route to a silver medal performance at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.
Fast forward three years and Madell was the undoubted face of the home team, leading the red-and-white to the gold medal in a dominant performance at the 2015 Parapan Am Games.
For his efforts, he was Canada’s flag bearer for the closing ceremony.
For more information on Canada’s Wheelchair Rugby team visit cwsa.ca
