Joel Dembe

Bronze medal winner, 2015 Parapan American Games

Financier by day, Tennis Canada coach by night

Joel underwent an operation to remove a benign tumor from his spinal column at birth. Despite the operation’s success, he remained partially paralyzed. He began playing tennis at age 14 and joined Canada’s national team at age 19. Over the course of his athletic career, he was Canadian champion four times, competed in the London 2012 Paralympic Games and the 2011 and 2015 Parapan American Games, where he won the bronze medal in doubles tennis (in 2015). In 2010, he left his job in finance to focus solely on his sport, which he did until his retirement in 2015. He is now an ambassador and coach for Tennis Canada, as well as an ambassador for the Rick Hansen Foundation and the Ontario Wheelchair Sports Association.

“Tennis is for everyone!” —Joel Dembe