Tracey Rice’s son, Dylan Sparks, is the reason she spent the better part of a decade growing para powerlifting into a more mainstream sport within the para-athlete community.

Sparks was born with spina bifida, paralyzing him. Starting with wheelchair basketball, he began to gravitate toward the gym and powerlifting.

Rice says supports weren’t in place for parents, athletes or para powerlifting coaches, and she wanted to change that.

“These athletes deserve a platform, all to highlight what they can accomplish,” Rice said.

“I wanted an event that mimicked what they’re going to see on the world stage.”

An event called Para Powerlifting Development Camp is taking place in Calgary this weekend, where 18 athletes are learning the ropes, new tricks and how competing on the world stage, including the Paralympics, will take place.

“They don’t just sit around, I want to lift heavy weights, they have to do it within the confines of what’s holding them back in an already not great scenario,” Rice said.

“They take care of medical things. They take care of things that you and I might take for granted on a daily basis.”

Twelve Canadian athletes and six Americans participated in the camp.

Useful

Tabetha Telford from Victoria, British Columbia, was at the camp and started powerlifting eight months ago.

She says the camp was helpful for her to learn new strategies to add to her training.

“Just a lot of different technical aspects that…definitely gave me a whole new perspective of the different little intricacies that you have to be aware of in this sport,” Telford said.

“It breaks the barrier between able-bodied and disabled, doesn’t it? It doesn’t matter what you do when you lift something heavy, it doesn’t matter if you’re disabled or able-bodied. We’ve all lifted something heavy.”

Athletes participate in training sessions and paralift trial events, which are open to athletes of all levels.

Paralympic builder Ozzie Sawicki says he was drawn to helping Rice make the event the best it could be.

“It was just an appealing sport. I love the nature of the sport. It’s a crossover with a lot of other sports,” Sawicki said.

“It really struggled to get the credibility to become a fully-fledged, visible sport,” he added. “And this camp is kind of the kickoff to really start building the four-year schedule leading up to Los Angeles in 2028.”