Inductees

Pat Harris (2014)

Basketball Athlete,Coach,Builder

As a player, builder and coach, Pat Harris has been a driving force behind wheelchair basketball in British Columbia for more than 35 years. He has also worked tirelessly to change attitudes toward disability and has helped make northern B.C. communities more accessible for people with mobility challenges.

Harris grew up in Chase and it was there, in 1966, that a riverbank collapsed on his back while he was playing. He was just 10 years old. He spent his 11th birthday in hospital and his 12th in rehabilitation, where he was taught the skills he would need to live in a world that was anything but wheelchair-friendly. When Harris reached high school, P.E. teacher Doug Everett introduced him to wheelchair sports and trained him in wheelchair racing. Everett changed Harris’s life.

After high school, Harris moved to Vancouver and discovered the B.C. Paraplegic Association. The time he spent at the BCPA was eye-opening because he met councillors and peers who, like himself, were holding down jobs, playing sports and living their lives despite the challenges they faced. He also realized, however, that others were not active and were isolated because they had no support networks or were financially challenged.

Harris played for the Vancouver Cable Cars wheelchair basketball team from 1971 to 1974 and was a member of a Canadian championship team. He was also a two-time Paralympian in athletics.

When Harris and his wife, Nancy, moved to Prince George in 1980, he found there were no wheelchair sports in the region and that general accessibility for people in wheelchairs was limited. A mission crystalized in his mind and he started building the foundations for wheelchair sports and accessibility infrastructure.

In the mid-1980s, Harris founded the Prince George Titans wheelchair basketball program, which is still going strong today. His involvement as a player and/or coach with the Titans stretches almost 30 years. During that time, he has organized countless wheelchair basketball demonstrations in Prince George and has travelled to numerous northern communities to encourage people with disabilities to stay physically active and to get involved in wheelchair sports. As a coach, he has played a significant role in helping many wheelchair basketball players advance to provincial, national and international levels of competition. Harris also coached at several editions of the B.C. Winter Games, as well as the 2003 and 2007 Canada Winter Games. For the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George, he is sport chair for wheelchair basketball.

As a rehabilitation consultant and information services manager for Spinal Cord Injury B.C., Harris has shown a passion for enhancing the quality of life for people with disabilities. He was instrumental in the formation of Accessibility Advisory Committees in Prince George, Quesnel and Fort St. John. He also spearheaded the Measuring Up the North Project, a partnership between Spinal Cord Injury B.C. and more than 40 northern B.C. communities. The program seeks to make northern towns more age-friendly, disability-friendly and inclusive for all citizens and visitors.

For all he has done, Harris has been recognized with numerous awards. The list includes: B.C. Wheelchair Sports Association Stan Strong volunteer of the year, 1988; City of Prince George Recreation Award of Merit, 1993 and 2007; B.C. Wheelchair Basketball Society coach of the year, 1999; B.C. Wheelchair Sports Association coach of the year, 2000; Canadian Wheelchair Sports Dr. Robert W. Jackson Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service; B.C. Wheelchair Basketball Society Outstanding Community Support Award, 2009; Wheelchair Basketball Canada Leadership Excellence Award, 2010; and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, Canadian Paralympic Committee, 2013.

The latest honour to be bestowed upon Harris is his induction into the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame. For all he has done – and continues to do – he is a most welcome addition.