Member Spotlight July 2020: Graham Bodnar

Graham Bodnar is in our Member Spotlight this month! Please read below for his bio.

Graham competes in the sport of Basketball. He played for Providence College for four years and helped lead his team to two MCAC Championships and two ACCA National Championships. Over the years, Graham has had the opportunity to travel to many places around the world because of basketball. He was a member of a Winnipeg team that played in the FIBA 3×3 World Tour and signed a contract to play professionally in Japan last summer. He works as a Physical Education teacher and continues to coach basketball and help teams at various age levels including junior high, high school, and College.

In 2018, Graham was introduced to deaf sports and had the opportunity to play for Team Manitoba in the 2018 Canada Deaf Games held here in Winnipeg. As a member of the team that won the Gold medal for Basketball, he was then invited to try out for the Deaf National Team. That fall, he was selected for Team Canada and started preparing with the team for competition the following spring. Team Canada went on to attend the 2019 USADB National Tournament in Indianapolis, Indiana. The team had an unbelievable tournament and actually won the National Championship with Graham being named as the MVP of the tournament. Very recently, the Canada Deaf Sports Association awarded this team with their National Team of the Year Award.

A few shorts months ago, Graham and the team were preparing to play in the 2020 Pan Am Games in Montreal. The Canadian Deaf National Basketball team was very excited about the possibility of qualifying for the 2021 Deaflympics in basketball for the first time since 1985. Due to the current global pandemic, the event has been postponed and the team is trying to stay ready for when the opportunity to represent their country will return.

 Congratulations on being nominated Graham. MDSA is proud to have you as a member!