Base Clerk nominated to Sports Hall of Fame

Kateryna Bandura
Lookout Editor

A well-known customer service support clerk from CFB Esquimalt is being recognized for his significant impact on the wheelchair sports community.

Chris Daw from Supply Customer Account Services in HMC Dockyard has been selected for induction into the Central Okanagan Sports Hall of Fame, scheduled for Nov. 16. He says this is an excellent opportunity for his team to be recognized for their accomplishments.

“No individual can win a recognition such as this alone, much less be inducted, without an effort from all team members and their legacies that help to get recognized,” he said.

The Central Okanagan Sports Hall of Fame honours athletes, coaches, teams, builders and pioneers who have distinguished themselves on the local, national or international sports scene. Nominations are forwarded from the public and are scrutinized by a nomination committee, then a selection committee, with the final approval completed by the Sports Legacy committee.

Daw is a Paralympian and a pioneer of wheelchair sports. He was one of the people who invented wheelchair curling in 2000 and helped write the rules, and team won the first-ever gold medal in 2006. He retired as an athlete in 2008 and became an elite coach, working with teams worldwide, including Canada, the U.S., Turkey and Korea, in sports such as track and field, curling, basketball, rugby, volleyball and martial arts.

Chris Daw is the only athlete to represent Canada at multiple Paralympic Games for various sports. He competed in wheelchair racing, wheelchair rugby, and wheelchair curling over four Paralympic Games appearances. He was also on Canada’s sitting volleyball team at the 2007 Parapan American Games in Rio, and experienced just about every conceivable Para sport available at the time. He joined CFB Esquimalt in 2021.

“Never let your passion out-weight your patience,” he says. “If you want to be a Commanding Officer – put the time in to become one; if you want to be a team leader – put  time in. It’ll happen.”