David Willsie (born March 28, 1968) is a Canadian coach and former

Wheelchair rugby Wheelchair rugby (originally murderball, and known as quad rugby in the United States) is a team sport for athletes with a disability. It is practised in over twenty-five countries around the world and is a summer Paralympic sport. The US name ...

player.

Early life

Willsie was born on March 28, 1968, in

Dorchester, Ontario Dorchester is a town in Ontario whose name first applied to the township and honours Sir Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester (1724-1808). The name was changed from Dorchester Station on May 3, 1961. Dorchester is the residential and commercial core of t ...

, Canada to parents John and Jean. His father was an international ice hockey referee and his cousin Brian Willsie played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. Willsie was born and raised in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

and earned a marketing diploma from

Fanshawe College Fanshawe College of Applied Arts and Technology, commonly shortened to Fanshawe College, is a public college in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. One of the largest colleges in Canada, it has campuses in London, Simcoe, St. Thomas and Woodstock w ...

. Willsie was a semi-pro baseball player and a cross-country runner before being left

quadriplegic Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of motor and/or sensory function in the cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weakness or paralysis leading to partial or t ...

following a recreational hockey game in 1995. While recovering in the hospital, Willsie was recruited by a local coach from Strathroy to play para-rugby. At the time, he was not interested in wheelchair sports because he felt that they were more of a "consolation" sport. However, after visiting a local

wheelchair rugby Wheelchair rugby (originally murderball, and known as quad rugby in the United States) is a team sport for athletes with a disability. It is practised in over twenty-five countries around the world and is a summer Paralympic sport. The US name ...

group and seeing their intensity, he chose to pursue the sport. Following this, he started playing wheelchair rugby with the London Annihilators in 1997 and made the Ontario team in 1998. He officially joined the Canadian National Wheelchair Rugby team in 1999.

Career

Upon qualifying for the Canadian National Wheelchair Rugby team, Willsie made his Paralympic Games debut in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. The team came in fourth and it was the first international showing where the team did not medal. During the competition, he served as co-captain. He remained as captain for the

2004 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympic ...

, where he won a silver medal. The teams' experience during the Games were captured in the documentary '' Murderball'' which was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

. Willsie returned to Team Canada for the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

where he helped them win a bronze medal. As a result of his athletic achievements, Willsie's hometown recreation centre included a purpose-built training facility for use by Willsie and his team. After winning another silver medal at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

, Willsie was the recipient of the

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

. After Canada failed to medal in the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

, Willsie retired from competing but accepted an assistant coaching position with the national team. In 2017, Willsie and

Garett Hickling Garett Hickling (born September 18, 1970) is a Canadian wheelchair rugby player. He is on the Canada national wheelchair rugby team and has been voted most valuable player at several World Championships (1995,1998, and 2002). He earned a gold me ...

became the first ever rugby players to have their jerseys retired by the Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Willsie, David 1968 births Living people Fanshawe College alumni Canadian wheelchair rugby players Paralympic bronze medalists for Canada Paralympic silver medalists for Canada Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in wheelchair rugby Wheelchair rugby players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair rugby players at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair rugby players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair rugby players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair rugby players at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Paralympic wheelchair rugby players for Canada Sportspeople at the 2015 Parapan American Games