Creativity, community, collective motion. These words only begin to hint at the transformative vision of Danielle Peers, a ground-breaking para athlete, coach, activist, and performance artist whose commitment to social justice is changing the game for queer people and people living with disabilities in Canadian sport and culture. Born and raised in Edmonton, Danielle began playing basketball at the age of ten. Experiencing muscular imbalance as a young adult, they played wheelchair basketball for three years before being diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. Blazing a bright trail to the top of the sport, Danielle helped Team Canada win a Bronze medal at the 2004 Paralympic Games and Gold medal at the 2006 World Championship. Between 2004 and 2009, Danielle claimed five consecutive Canadian National Championships with their hometown team the Edmonton Inferno, (a team they co-founded to create gender equity in the sports’ opportunities). Pouring their heart into every second of play, Danielle was named MVP of the Canadian Women’s National Championship in 2004 and 2007, and World Championship MVP in 2006. Challenging established gender divisions, Danielle also played with the USA Men’s Div. II National Championship team in 2005, where they were named to the tournament’s all-star team, and became the first female MVP of the European Men’s Club Championship in 2006.
 
While securing their legacy as an international wheelchair basketball phenomenon, Danielle worked tirelessly to remove barriers to grassroots participation in para sport, improve training for coaches, and diversify representation at the decision-making level. They also continually challenged limiting organizational and media discourse that focused on disability rather than athletic achievement and ableist barriers, casting disabled bodies as implicitly ‘less’ than their counterparts. Particularly problematic for Danielle was the imbalance in power that persisted between para sport organizers and athletes, often resulting in the objectification of disabilities and a lingering tendency to promote para sport events as curious spectacles rather than competitions of equal value. Refusing to view disability as a problem to be overcome, Danielle sought to change these perceptions by shifting organizational messaging in para sport to celebrate the accomplishments of disabled athletes, and to challenge systemic barriers to more widespread and meaningful disability participation and leadership.
 
After retiring from competitive sport in 2008, Danielle earned a PhD in Physical Education and Recreation and began a new chapter as Associate Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport and Recreation at the University of Alberta. Continuing to make waves through their work as a community organizer and para sport advocate, Danielle also translated their commitment to social justice into art, combining dance and video to create a uniquely resonant form of self-expression as an award-winning 2SLGBTQQIA+ artist. A National Ambassador for Muscular Dystrophy Canada, Danielle is also Co-Director of Just Movements CreateSpace, co-lead of the Re-Creation Collective, and co-founder of several forward-looking arts collectives in Edmonton, including KingCrip Productions, CRIPSiE (Collaborative Radically Integrated Performers), and Solidance inclusive Recreation Society. Promoting a deeper understanding of how movement and inclusive recreation create a culture of belonging, Danielle remains an unstoppable force for change, continually challenging injustice, and creating vibrant new opportunities for previously excluded groups to co-create their own meaningful movement practices.

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