Despite not punching their ticket to the Powerchair Football Association’s World Cup one group of athletes still had a good time. Fairview-born Josh Taylor and his teammates recently returned from the World Cup qualifier known as the Americas Cup in Brazil empty-handed but he says that’s alright.
“We were excited, we were hopeful but we didn’t know what to expect. We were going up against a bunch of experienced teams so we treated it like a learning experience and to have a lot of fun regardless of the results. We knew we were going to be in deep but it was an interesting time.”
The 32-year-old took up the sport in 2014 after a car accident at the age of 18 made him a quadriplegic. If there’s one experience Taylor says will stick with him for a while it was participating in the opening ceremonies.
“You always see it in the Olympics or when you’re watching the [world] juniors just anytime Team Canada gets out there and you get to hear your anthem and sing along to the words knowing that you’re representing your country; I’ll remember that for a while for sure.”
At the end of the tournament, the United States, Uruguay and Argentina qualified for spots at the 2021 FIPFA World Cup in Australia. Taylor says his team will now turn their attention to preparing for the next world cup qualifier in four years.
