We once again would like to thank all of you who have come in the past to participate in our 29 previous Spitfire Challenges. 

We hope that you enjoyed the basketball competition and our fine city. We are proud to have now hosted more than 700 teams from 26 countries in the history of this event. One of the best parts of this event, is the friendships that develop among the participants.

We wish thank all the people who have contributed to making the Spitfire Challenge a success. Special thanks to our Spitfire Challenge sponsors, the people who have bought our restaurant coupon books, souvenir t shirts, advertisements in the souvenir program, the bus drivers from Denny’s, all on court and table officials, Town publishing, Coloplast our hospitality night sponsors, Remington Home builders for their support in purchasing coffee mugs for awards, Milton Home Hardware door prize donators, Henkel Canada , Casco Canada and all companies that made donations to help support the Challenge, Our photographer Eric Morse, snack bar volunteers, hospitality volunteers, Emergency Patrol first aid and security volunteers, souvenir & tire stand volunteers, the staff at Etobicoke Olympium, hosts and hostesses, teams helping out at the scorekeepers table, translators and all of our other volunteers.

The Spitfires Wheelchair Sports Association was formed in 1976 and promoted wheelchair sports, encouraged the integration of able and disabled people, and provided competitive and recreational sports for all to benefit from. Initially we were involved in many sports including track and field, wc gym hockey, swimming and basketball. Over the years the Spitfires concentrated on wheelchair basketball and hosted many tournaments including the Glenn Hibbert tournament, the Paul Lane Classic, the Cynthia Bryce tournament and the famous Spitfire Challenge.

Unfortunately our Spitfires wheelchair basketball team will no longer continue. The high cost of fuel, other sports and interests, high transportation costs and lack of commitment common to many other sports and hobbies have caused this. I hope that the sport will continue to thrive with the New Vaughan City Lashers a team comprised of many players who have either been members of the Spitfires or participated in the Spitfire Challenge contact :Reg McClellan <info@4rgk.com> and the Variety Village wheelchair basketball program in the Greater Toronto area. And I want to thank every member and volunteer over the years for making the team such an enjoyable experience.

We will if funding allows us to still be active in Ontario helping schools, groups and organizations with disability awareness programs by loaning them wheelchairs for their function.

Also we will continue to help out programs like Participation house in Brantford, Ontario with the loan of 12 wheelchairs for their disability awareness programs and fundraisers. We also will continue to help out the University of Waterloo in Ontario with the loan of wheelchairs for their charity events. We also will try and help students at the University of Guelph in Ontario with their formation of a wheelchair basketball program for disabled and able bodied with technical support and loaner wheelchairs whenever they need our assistance.

I am however very happy to inform you, that I and my many friends who help organize and co-ordinate this event have pledged a commitment to future Spitfire Challenges. We wish to thank the many teams that have traveled to Toronto and participated in the Spitfire Challenge over the years. We also wish all club teams the best in their league championships and national paralympic teams the best in future World Championships and Paralympics. For comprehensive compilation of Paralympic statistics from 1992 to the present, complete Spitfire Challenge statistics from 1980 to the present please check our Spitfire Challenge website.

Michael Bryce and The Spitfire Challenge

 

 

E-mail  spitfirechallenge@speedway.ca 

www.spitfirechallenge.ca