By Amanda Pratt
She’s a floor general, a leader, a clutch shooter and simply incredible.
That’s how longtime friend and fellow wheelchair basketball player, Vito Perri, describes Tracey Ferguson, star guard for Canada’s women’s wheelchair basketball team.
A veteran of four Paralympic Games, the three-time gold medalist has been an offensive force for the national team since her debut in 1991 at age 16.
The 30-year-old Centretown resident arrived home from Greece disappointed with the team’s bronze-medal performance in Athens, but she put the 57-40 semifinal loss to the U.S. in perspective.
“We didn’t play as well as we were capable of playing and I think that’s where some disappointment comes in because we were favoured going in,” she says, adding that it was the first loss the team suffered since 1990 in world championship or Paralympic play. “So, it’s one game in 14 years, but every team loses, so it’s bound to happen eventually. It just was really bad timing, but the team really pulled together and I’m pleased with what we’ve done.”
Ferguson was born with spina bifida, a birth defect where the spinal cord fails to develop properly. Able to walk but not run, she started playing wheelchair basketball at Variety Village in Toronto at age 12.
Steve Bialowas, who has coached her since she started playing, says Ferguson always stood out from the other players. She is typically rated as one of the best three-point shooters in the world.
“She’s always had that grit and determination, passion to play the game,” he says from Toronto. “She’s a very talented athlete. She always had a natural talent.”
Originally from Holland Landing, Ont., Ferguson, who has a master’s degree in physiology from the University of Illinois, moved to Ottawa in 2001 to train and work for Sport Canada.
She says her job as a program officer has allowed her to see how the national sport organizations operate, which has given her a better understanding of the sport system as a whole.
Ferguson says it has been an honour for her to represent her country and compete on the international level.
“The first time you put on the jersey with ‘Canada,’ on it and the maple leaf, it’s pretty overwhelming actually,” she says. “There’s a full sense of pride because you’re not just representing yourself on the athletic field, you’re representing the people back at home.”
While her family has been supportive, Ferguson says her mom has always been her biggest fan and influence in her life Patricia Boudreau made all four trips to see her daughter compete for gold.
“As much as I’ve had so many great coaches over the years and amazing teammates, my mom kind of set that path of showing me that I had the opportunity and ability to do whatever I wanted to do and that I just had to work for it,” says Ferguson.
But if you ask Perri, he might say he’s her biggest fan. He met Ferguson when they started playing together at Variety Village. He says she is incredibly genuine and is always giving back to the community.
“She’s constantly doing speeches and talks for schools and different events and galas,” he says. “Her life is amazing to me.” When Ferguson moved to Ottawa three years ago, Perri, who plays forward, decided to commute from Toronto to play with her in Ottawa. He says he can’t count the number of game-winning shots she’s hit over the years.
“I’ll always play with her I believe,” he says. “I believe in her that much and she’s that good, that I’ll say, ‘where do you want to play?’”