The next chapter
Jewells retires from national team, moves on to the University of Alabama
Although one part of Jamey Jewells’ wheelchair basketball career is over, she’s continued her career south of the border.
The Donkin native officially retired from the national team in an announcement from Wheelchair Basketball Canada last week. With the senior team, she won a world championship in 2014 in Toronto and competed in the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, England, and the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The 27-year-old said she never thought “a girl from small-town Donkin” would play in front of huge crowds and at the biggest tournaments in the sport.
“Some of the best moments of my life were spent on Team Canada,” she said. “At the age of 19, I was travelling the world playing on the senior and junior national teams. I don’t know too many 19-yearolds
who get to do that.
“I had a baby and less than a year later, won a world championship. Again, I can’t name someone else who’s done that. I’ve got to do so much.”
Jewells was injured in a car accident in 2003 and got into the sport on the advice of an occupational therapist in 2007. She earned roster spots on Team Canada’s senior and junior teams in 2011. Jewells won a silver medal at the Parapan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, that year, and added another silver from the same tournament in Toronto in 2015.
Her career has taken her to tournaments across the world with stops in Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Mexico and Brazil, as well as events across Canada and the United States.
Also retired from the national program is her husband, Adam Lancia, a two-time Paralympic gold medalist who began playing for the national men’s team in 2001. He’s now the head coach of Jewells’ newest team, the University of Alabama Crimson Tide. Jewells is on a scholarship and is studying social work.
“We do a pretty good job of it,” Jewells said of having her husband as head coach. The couple has a three-year-old daughter, Lennyn. “Basketball is always going to be basketball and it’s professional. He’s a coach with a really high basketball IQ who I respect, so it works out.
“We watch a lot of film. As a player, I will always re-watch the games I play in over and over again. As a coach, Adam does the same thing, so we always have film on in our house.”
The Crimson Tide roster has a number of ex-national team members from Canada, the United States and Germany, and has a good shot at winning another national title. This year’s tournament will be held in Whitewater, Wis., March 9-11.
Alabama finished the regular season with a 14-6 record overall and 11-4 in the conference. They enter the nationals as the No. 2 seed.
“Alabama’s women’s program has won five national championships and every great Canadian who’s played wheelchair basketball has gone through Alabama, so it’s become a bit of a legacy,” said Jewells. “I’m pretty happy to be a part of it.”