Krempien honoured as female athlete of the year
(Taken from the May 28, 2008 St. Albert Gazette)
By Jeff Hansen
Staff Writer		    

Jen Krempien was crowned female athlete of the year by the Canadian Wheelchair Basketball Association (CWBA)J Krempien
after a season of excellence at the national and international levels.

"It’s an honour to be chosen out of all the female athletes in the wheelchair basketball community," said Krempien, a Canadian national team veteran since 1992.

The St. Albert product was recognized for her outstanding contributions at the recent CWBA awards banquet and hall of fame ceremonies following the National Wheelchair Basketball Championships in Coquitlam, B.C.

"A few of my accomplishments were highlighted, and it was kind of shocking to hear what kind of year it’s actually been," said the recipient of the B.C. Wheelchair Sport Association’s Stan Stronge Award for athletic leadership.

In a testament to Krempien’s character and ability as an individual and an athlete, she was named the Canadian flag bearer at the 2007 Parapanamerican Games in Rio de Janeiro.

"It was certainly an honour but when it comes down to it I’m an athlete and I love playing. All of the other awards are great and they mean a lot, but it’s what I do on the court and what I do with the team, so when I reflect back on the year those were the moments that stick out for me," said the tournament MVP at the 2007 Osaka Cup in Japan.

This year the Paul Kane High School alumna played for Canada’s gold-medal winning entry at the Good Luck Beijing Invitational Tournament in January.

In May she helped the Edmonton Inferno capture a record fifth-straight club championship in the four-team Canadian Wheelchair Basketball League (CWBL) playoff tournament. In the final Inferno defeated the BC Breakers 69-51. It was also her eighth club title since 1994. Three previous national victories were with the Aurora Lights.

Krempien and Inferno teammate Karla Tritten share the mark for the most CWBL championships among active female players.

The week after the CWBL playoffs, the Richmond-based athlete hooped it up for British Columbia at the four-team national provincial championship tournament. Her team beat Quebec 59-52 in the final.

"The highlight for me was the double national championships. It was pretty neat. It was with two teams in a matter of two weeks," Krempien said.

Alberta edged out Saskatchewan 45-44 for third place with St. Albert post Tara Feser in the line-up. Feser is a national team rookie and Inferno member. At nationals athletes played for the province they lived in.

The tournament also used a 14-point system, the same as international wheelchair basketball, compared to 17 points at the club championship. Classifications range from 1.0 to 4.5 based on the player’s level of ability. In international competition the five players on the floor per team must add up to 14 points. Krempien is a 1.0 guard with no trunk muscles. She is unable to rotate because of a spinal cord injury

"The quality of basketball was pretty good but it wasn’t my best tournament ever. My shooting percentage was quite a bit lower than I had planned but you know what? I’m happy with the gold."

Last hurrah

Krempien, 33, has put her life on hold while preparing for her fifth and final Paralympics with Team Canada. The three-time Paralympic gold medallist and four-time Gold Cup world champion plans to retire from the international scene following the 2008 Beijing games. Last year in September the all-star guard at the 1998 and 2002 Gold Cups told the Gazette "it just feels like the right time" when she made it official.

"I needed to do that for my own sanity to help devote everything over the next year to get to Beijing," said Krempien, a graduate student of human nutrition at the University of British Columbia who works as a clinical pediatric dietitian.

"Right now I’m totally focused on doing whatever it takes to win. There is no time really to get nostalgic about it right now."

Leading up to the Sept. 6-17 Paralympics for disabled athletes is a hectic schedule of tournaments and training camps for the number-one-ranked team in the world.

"I’m really excited. I can’t believe it’s only 100 days away."

The first major event is the June 2-15 Roosevelt Cup in Georgia, followed by the North America Cup and training in Alabama. An exhibition tour in Germany is planned for July. A tournament in Toronto is on tap for August.

"It’s quite a bit busier [than previous Paralympic years]. Newer events were added to the women’s schedule. We’ve also been generously funded and that’s really been a boost for our training and development to have those opportunities," said Team Canada’s co-captain. "We have a number of games coming up in the next 100 days and we’re looking to apply something in each game and to get better with each game. We’re planning on actually peaking in the gold medal game at the Paralympics."

Krempien doesn’t expect her role to change much in Beijing. She plays a ferocious brand of defence. It enables her to compete against players with a higher classification number, which gives her team an advantage on the floor.

"I’m expecting to play 40 minutes of every game just about. I’m getting my mindset ready for that, just the way our line-ups have been and with the tall members selected. There’s not a lot of reinforcements [in my classification]."

After a disappointing bronze showing by Canada at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, nothing but gold will satisfy Krempien in Beijing. The team to fear is the United States after they knocked off Canada in the final at the Parapanamerican Games. Germany and Australia are also medal contenders.

"I predict that Canada, Germany and the U.S. will be on the podium."
jhansen@stablert.greatwest.ca

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