Why Liam Hickey is quickly becoming one of province's top athletes
Attending national sledge hockey camp, but eyes are on basketball at 2016 Paralympics
Liam Hickey unleashes a burst of speed up the court as he chases a wayward basketball.
- Para-athlete Liam Hickey invited to national sledge hockey camp
- Liam Hickey, Parapan Am silver medallist, gets warm homecoming
He deftly scoops the ball up with his right hand while whizzing by, turns in an instant and throws a pinpoint pass to a teammate heading for an opening and the opponent's basket.
The athleticism is evident in the way he cradled and passed the ball, in the way he picked the ball off the floor and instinctively knew his teammate would be open.
He sits tall in the modified wheelchair, made specifically for the sport.
His broad shoulders are quite noticeable as he wheels around the floor at Easter Seals House, making sure all players get to hold and shoot the basketball.
His long arms and hands enable him to easily manipulate the basketball.
Around him are some Easter Seals disabled kids, other kids his age and some able-bodied adults wanting to try their hand at wheelchair basketball.
Hickey – a silver medal winner with the Canadian national men's team at the Parapan Am Games this summer in Toronto – should stand out amongst this crowd. He's not trying to stand out, mind you, but he is, by his stature and his competitive nature.
It's that desire to succeed that has enabled Liam Hickey to become one of Newfoundland and Labrador's top young athletes.
Born without femur in right leg
Hickey, for those of you who don't know, was born without a femur in his right leg, leaving him with an appendage that reached his knee level.
At the age of four, he had rotationplasty surgery, in which his leg was rotated 180 degrees, allowing the heel on his foot to act as a knee, and allowed doctors to outfit him with a prosthetic device.
Surgery wasn't easy, "but it helped me walk, and that's what matters," he calmly shrugs.
Hickey didn't walk long before he started running. Active and athletic, it wasn't long before he was playing sledge hockey and wheelchair basketball with other disabled kids.
Fast forward to today, and Liam Hickey has already played on Canada's junior and national men's wheelchair basketball teams, and is a good bet to be part of our country's entry at the 2016 Paralympic Game in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Not only that, he was a member of Canada's sledge hockey entry in the 2014 Sochi Paralympics, in Russia.
This week, while Hickey's friends are burying their heads into books, he's in Calgary trying out for the sledge hockey team, again.
"This opportunity is going to be pretty cool," he said during an interview last week.
"I was with the team once, for the 2014 Sochi Paralympics. So to get back and have another opportunity with the team is a huge achievement for me. I feel very proud to be able to go up and play with those guys."
Focus now on basketball
Hickey says he's not expecting to be named to the sledge team this time around, and that's totally OK with him, because his focus in firmly on the basketball court. In December, he'll attend that national team's tryout camp, with the hopes of making it to Brazil next summer.
And he's doing this as a teenager!
"I didn't expect to make the teams that I made, this soon," he admits. "I always talked growing up, when I was 10, 11, 12, that maybe someday I'd have to make the choice to go to sledge and dedicate myself to one sport. I've never really wanted to do that, and I still don't want to fully commit myself to one, because I love so much. I love to play both, so that's the tough part.
"It's cool to be able to play both sports at this level. Of course I'm going to be focused on the Paralympics for basketball, so there'll be a lot more time will be put into basketball than there is going to be put into sledge. But that's just what you have to do to make sure you represent your country the right way."
Any athlete who's worn the Maple Leaf on their chest talks of the pride in doing so. Hickey is no different, but as a competitor, wearing the Canadian jersey is one thing, winning with it on is a whole other matter.
A loss that's become a motivator
In Hickey's bedroom is a motivational poster, given to the basketballers in Toronto.
Beat Venezuela. Check.
Beat Puerto Rico. Check.
Beat the United States.
That's where the team fell short. The States beat them in the gold medal game, forcing the Canadians to accept silver. That loss still stings.
But instead of dwelling on it, Hickey – and no doubt his national teammates – use it for motivation. For Hickey, living thousands of miles away from his teammates, training is difficult. No matter how many times you shoot baskets, if you don't have that competition on the floor, it's tough to focus.
I just want to show people that a disability isn't a disability unless you let yourself think it is- Liam Hickey
It's the same in sledge hockey. Hickey arrived in Calgary Sunday having not been on the ice. He says it generally takes him a day or two to "catch up" to the other player. But his work ethic, the drive to be great, is what allows him to succeed when he gets to the national stage.
"Knowing with the drive I have I can get to where I want to be and where I need to be, to play with the guys that are on the national teams. It's cool. It's always awesome to get up with the guys and play with them, train with them. It's a lot more fun, but it's also cool to be able to train by myself and go up to their level."
Actions, goals of an athlete
Hickey's thoughts are mature, but the words – cool, awesome – are a teenager's. His actions and goals are that of an athlete.
Let's remove the disabled tag. Let's get rid of the 'Para' designation. Let's call Liam Hickey what he is – an outstanding young Newfoundland and Labrador athlete.
"I just want to show people that a disability isn't a disability unless you let yourself think it is," he rationalizes.
"The biggest thing is just to push yourself, no matter what condition you're in, what physical shape you're in, what you're born with, what you have to deal with. You just have to push through it.
"It always comes down to who's there to support you and what you have inside and the drive you need to have. You just can't let anything stop you.
"I wouldn't trade (my life) for anything. I don't want to give up anything for a normal life, or whatever you want to call it. The drive is there. When you want to do it, it's easier."