In an era when the Canadian men’s wheelchair basketball team was widely considered the best in the world, Canada’s undisputed floor general was Jaimie Borisoff. As co-captain for much of his 13 years on the national squad, Jaimie led a talented group of Canadian stars to an unprecedented decade of dominance. Along the way, he established himself as one of the world’s best players.
Growing up in Surrey, Jaimie gravitated towards team sports including hockey and baseball. After his first year at UBC, Jaimie was injured in a car accident that left him with a severe spinal cord injury. While rehabbing at G.F. Strong in Vancouver, he discovered and quickly fell in love with wheelchair basketball. Playing on local teams he soaked up knowledge from national team players like John Lundie and Murray Brown and all-round legends like Rick Hansen and Daniel Wesley.
Within two years, Jaimie made the BC provincial team. Over the course of his career, he won eight national titles with Team BC and was named to the national tournament all-star team 11 times. With his club team Douglas College, he also won five CWBL national championships.
After making his national team debut in 1995, Jaimie’s ballhandling, passing, and blanket defense made him a cornerstone of the program until 2008. He represented Canada at four Paralympic Games, winning gold in 2000 and 2004, and silver in 2008. In world championship play, he helped Canada to the 2006 world title and bronze medals in 1998 and 2002. At the 1998 worlds, he was selected to the World All-Star Five Team. He also helped Canada to tournament wins in the Roosevelt Cup, Tournament for the Americas, and the Osaka Cup, selected 2006 tournament MVP in the latter.
Remarkably, Jaimie achieved much of this while completing a PhD in neuroscience and designing the Elevation Wheelchair which has improved the lives of countless people.
Written and researched by Jason Beck, Curator of the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
To read more on the career of Jaimie Borisoff, please see the July 2023 Curator’s Corner article here: https://bcsportshall.com/curator-corner/jaimie-borisoff-undisputed-floor-general-2023-inductee-spotlight/