Athlete Services

At the time I was living in Canada and only applied to one school, UIUC. I knew that if I wanted to be my best, and learn what it meant to get there, I had to be at UIUC and nowhere else. It had the best of both worlds for me – academics and athletics. Their actuarial sciences program was in the top three of the nation and their wheelchair basketball program was first. There were no other adaptive sports program like it and I was able to fully immerse myself in my dreams of competing at the Paralympics. Mike Frogley was the coach at the time, and I think many would agree he was one of, if not the greatest, coaches in the history of the game. Coach Frogley and the rest of the staff were laser focused on making us both better athletes and people. They challenged us when we weren’t putting our best on the court, in the classroom and often times in life.

At the time, I was competing for Team Canada. Team USA came later after I became an American citizen, married an American girl and adopted the beliefs and culture of the United States. At UIUC, we were held to the highest standard. There was no room for excuses when you weren’t at your best. While the level of competition internationally is generally higher than domestically, the standard we were held to was the same. As a result, we were ready for the international stage in a very well-rounded way from fitness and mental skill sets to being taught to do things on the court that weren’t being taught anywhere else.

College prepared me so much more for life than it did from an athletic standpoint. First, the skill set I learned working with a team prepared me for the corporate world very well. Learning how to work with different skill sets, various characters and how to come together to succeed as one set me up to be able to interview well for my job and then put it into practice as I began my career. Secondly, it taught me the value of hard work. That was something as athletes we all know well however translating that to my career and other aspects of life was been hugely beneficial. There are no shortcuts, you have to be in it for the long run and work hard every day to achieve your dreams. Finally, I’d say it taught me the characteristics of a leader. I learned that the best way for me to succeed was often finding out how to make others shine, ways to engage with others in their story and how to push them to be their best.