The local wheelchair basketball star recently captured Canada Basketball's

outstanding athlete award, edging out some of the countrys' best able-bodied athletes. The first-year award is aimed at players actively representing their country, so not necessarily including the likes of two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash or league brethren Jamall Magloire and Samuel Dalembert.

But Peers, who has muscular dystrophy and is spending increasing amounts of time in a wheelchair, was still chosen ahead of an assortment of successful men and women from the collegiate and pro ranks.

"It's pretty amazing, really. I was actually speechless the first couple of minutes after they told me," said Peers from Toronto, where she's training with the national team .

"It's one of those things you kind of dream about as a kid and then go, 'Oh yeah, I'm a five-year-old kid with bad knees. Like that's going to happen,' "

Peers has won gold medals, league titles, all-star honours and MVP awards playing with both women and men, and both domestically and internationally. Most recently, she took home MVP honours in a men's pro league in Europe in 2005 and was MVP
of Canada's gold-medal team at the women's world championship last summer.

Her credentials both on the court as a players and off the court as a motivational
speaker and ambassador for Muscular Dystrophy Canada, made her a natural for
the award, said Digby Leigh, who sits on Canada Basketball's board of directors.

"If you look at the various attributes she has, she's the perfect candidate," said Leigh, going on to talk about her basketball career before switching gears.

"Her perseverance and the journey she's gone through is quite an amazing story. . . . On top of that, she's a leader and a role model who gets out and speaks in the community. All of those contribute toher being a no-brainer for someone to be considered an outstanding athlete."

Peers received the award at Canada Basketball's Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Vancouver on July 19. It came on the heels of her induction in June into Edmonton's Sports Hall of Fame. She likes the idea the awards signify a growing acceptance of wheelchair basketball as a sport and its players as athletes.

Wheelchair star must pass up PanAms

However, she's also taking her first step back from the game in years. She is training with the team in Toronto and competing in a warm-up tournament against three other countries starting Friday. But she won't be making the trek to Brazil for the Paralympic Pan American Games next month due to health concerns that recently cropped up, restricting her breathing.

"It was an incredibly tough decision to make; this is the Pan American Games. . . and this is the first time I've ever not gone to a tournament with the team," said Peers.

"But if I have to choose between my health and my sport, it's very clear in my mind which one I'm going to pick,."

Peers's form of muscular dystrophy doesn't allow her to properly build muscle in her legs, previously interrupting a promising basketball career at Grant MacEwan College and forcing her to use crutches and a wheelchair.

She started to experience breathing problems while at a Four Nations Tournament in Australia in June, though she still made the all-star team.

Pears said she's in the middle of tests to see if the recent turn in her health has anything to do with the muscular dystrophy affecting the muscles in her chest. But she's still got her mind set on the 2008 Summer Olympics in China.

"My goals are remaining on Beijing," said Peers.

I"m very much training and hoping and making all these decisions with the idea of being in the best shape I can for Beijing.

"Like any athlete, you don't ever know when you'll be faced with a decision between your health and your sport,"

She's hoping it won't be quite yet.