The 2008 Ontario Paralympic Winter Championships kick off today and take place all weekend in the Georgian Triangle.

The games will feature 240 athletes in seven sports and will be held at venues in Collingwood, Wasaga Beach and the Town of the Blue Mountains.

Wheelchair basketball will be held at Collingwood Collegiate Institute, wheelchair rugby will take place at Jean Vanier High School, alpine skiing at the Craigleith Ski Club, swimming at the Recplex in Wasaga Beach, cross-country skiing will be held at Highlands Nordic in Duntroon and sledge hockey takes place at Eddie Bush Memorial Arena.

One of the participants in the sledge hockey competition will be Collingwood resident Wes Filion.

The 18-year-old has played for the Simcoe Bears for the last six years and will be the goalie for the Northern Ontario team this weekend.
Filion has an undiagnosed condition.  He has been told it's likely a genetic disease. He said he lost the ability to walk when he was eight years old.

During his first several years in sledge hockey, he was a winger and then he decided to switch to goalie. When he used to play soccer, he was a goalie.

"Because of my disability, I wasn't getting any faster," he said. "They needed somebody else to be a goalie."

He said it is quite the change from being a skater.

"It's very hard with all the equipment on to get back up," he said.

His mother Donna says her son has received a lot of support from locals during his sledge hockey career. She said local equipment manufacturer John Brown made his pads. He also received support from the Collingwood Kiwanis Club.

Filion says this weekend's games are a big deal for him, but he says the goal is not about winning.  

"It's more or less for exercise and having fun and getting to be part of a sports team," he said. "It keeps your spirits up. Sitting around at home isn't fun."

Kathy Jeffery is the chair of the games and says residents can look forward to some great competition.

"I think people are going to be surprised at the speed at which these games go and the strength of these athletes," she said.

Athletes with a number of disabilities will compete against one another, the only sport where they are separated into different classes is skiing.