Jason Crone shoots for spot on national rugby team
Posted By BILL WALKER
Competitive sports, especially those with a lot of physical contact, seemed like an impossible dream to Jason Crone.
Suffering a spinal-cord injury in 2003 that resulted in quadriplegia, the now 20-year-old Owen Sound native was faced with life in a wheelchair.
But then along came an offer to play wheelchair rugby and the rest, as they say, was history for Crone, who’s become one of the top players in Ontario.
The OSCVI grad hopes to soon be one of the best in Canada as he’s shooting for a spot on the national team and a chance to play in the 2008 Paralympics Summer Games in Beijing.
“When I had my first game and practice, I was hooked,” Crone said Thursday prior to the sixth annual Crone Cup charity girl’s high school hockey game.
“I got better and better at it and it’s great to have something physical to replace the hockey. I played hockey with a lot of drive and determination, and now I’ve found a sport where I can do the same.”
Crone left Friday for Vancouver. He’s one of 22 players hoping to land one of 11 roster spots on the national team. Tryouts run until Wednesday. He’ll learn if he’s made the national team on March 31.
Crone is a member of the Ontario A team and the Canadian wheelchair rugby squad. He was also the 2007 Ontario Wheelchair sports rookie of the year.
The four-on-four rugby is played on a regulation-sized basketball court. It’s full contact and was the subject of an award-winning documentary entitled Murderball.
“I had seen the (documentary) a couple weeks before I started playing, so I was ready for it,” said Crone.
“There’s lots of contact and we have our bumps and bruises and our injuries like any other athletes. It’s great.”
Crone's focus was on hockey and not wheelchair rugby, right up to March 8, 2003. That's when he was checked from behind at the Owen Sound Coliseum during a game with the Owen Sound Junior Attack minor midgets.
“I remember everything about it . . . it all sticks out,” said the former defenceman who used his hockey mindset to help him get through rehab.
“You have to have the mentality that basically you’re in overtime in Game 7 all of the time. You need that mentality to do your best. It’s tough to get through it but the athlete mentality and the drive was the same.”
Crone underwent intensive rehab at London’s Parkwood Hospital before returning to OSCVI in 2003. He graduated in 2005 and went to London’s Fanshawe College for a year before turning his attention to rugby and the paralympics.
He plays for the London Annihilators and will be at the Canadian championships May 9 to 11 at Humber College.
“There’s been some tough moments, that’s for sure,” said Crone. “I’ve been doing pretty well for myself. Looking back five years, it’s amazing where I am now. I would never have thought I would have been doing so well for myself.”
He’s also amazed at the success of the Crone Cup, a fundraiser that pits the girls hockey teams from OSCVI against their rivals from West Hill.
Thursday marked the sixth annual Crone Cup, which last year saw 1,100 fans raise $7,500 for spinal cord research.
“Sitting here and watching people come in, it just seems to be getting bigger each year,” said Crone.