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Daniel Paradis
Onward! Go! Go!
Bing bang boom, hit hard! O, it’s going to bang hard at the Défi sportif this year! The rugby tournament is going from a 3.5 points to an 8 points one. The calibre will then be the same as at the World Championships or the Paralympic Games. It is more spectacular
, Daniel Paradis admits right away. He is an old-timer with the Quebec team. There is more hitting, the level is higher. It will be more fun for the spectators.
Most of all, it will be better for the relief forces. Since we have few tournaments in Quebec, it is more interesting to see play of really high level to have people discover our sport
, Paradis believes, he who has been a real rugby fanatic for 25 years.
Year after year, the Québec athlete goes back to the gym enthusiastically. Each year, I get better. Right now, on the national team, I would say the average age is high, but experience remains an important asset, maybe more so than form. The youngsters have spirit and energy, but they have to learn the tactical aspects of the game and stamina. All that doesn’t happen quickly.
All the same, Paradis is ready to take young athletes under his wing. I think that the young and the old must work together to build relief forces, if we want Canada and Quebec to keep on performing.
And one of the youngsters who draws Daniel Paradis’ attention is Pascal Dubé, a Beauport athlete. I don’t have to instil passion for sports in him; he is a buff. He breathes sports!
But if there is a message that Daniel Paradis is trying to spread, it is about the benefits of sports for wheelchair athletes. Sports allow you to not think of the bad things. I try to show them that sports let you grow in your disability. To practice sports is to have more possibilities.
Preaching through example
If he accepts the title of mentor, Daniel Paradis still prefers to let his actions speak. As long as I can perform on the field, the young ones will respect me. When they outmatch me…
Owner of Médico Concept, a medical and orthopaedic supplies shop, he is also an ardent Défi sportif supporter. For me, the Défi sportif represents 25 important steps in my life. I often tell youngsters not to miss the event. For those who are just starting out, it is a unique opportunity to show their friends and relatives what they are capable of.
The father of two teenage daughters considers retirement every time he comes back from a large event. He thought of it after the Paralympic Games in Athens in 2004 and after Beijing in 2008, but yet, the blocker still answers present! It is a passion. When I step into a gymnasium, it really is because I like it.
And it was love at the first contact. I became quadriplegic after a fall while downhill skiing. I fractured the fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae. Right after the accident, I went back to skiing. But when I discovered rugby, I dropped everything else for it.
And a quarter century later, Daniel Paradis is still in love.
