After countless hours of hard work and determination, Canada is poised to enter the 2013 Dwarf World Games as an association this summer on August 3-10 in Michigan, USA for the first time in history.
"It has taken a lot of planning and work to get get where we are today, but it has all been worth it," said the Dwarf Athletic Association of Canada (DAAC) President, Irma Van De Bon-Nicol. "We really took a big step to where we are today on May 5 (2013). We (DAAC) met at a little people's convention in Calgary, Alberta and there we drafted a set of bylaws, a mission statement, and a vision statement. Then we applied for non-profit status and put together a group of executive directors."
The Dwarf World Games is designed for all skill levels and offers 14 different events: archery, badminton, basketball, boccia, floor hockey, kurling, powerlifting, shooting, soccer, swimming, table tennis, track and field - track, track and field - field, and volleyball.
"All dwarfs are encouraged to try it out, no matter how athletic they are," said Van De Bon-Nicol, who is also the executive director at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Yorkton and area. "Since there are so many events, there should be a sport, team or individual, for every dwarf. There are four different age categories: Futures, Juniors, Open, and Masters."
But playing sports against people their own size is only a small piece of what the world games offers dwarfs.
"It is so much more than just playing sports," said Van De Bon-Nicol. "It's a great opportunity for dwarfs to feel like they belong in something. It boosts their confidence and gives them something to work towards. It's also a great opportunity for them to make friends and build life-long friendships that they can keep going through email and social media."
Van De Bon-Nicol's son, Carter Balaberda who is a 21-year-old dwarf, is what inspired her to help give Canadian dwarfs an opportunity to compete on the big stage.
"Carter does powerlifting and he works so hard at it that I wanted to do what I could to give him a chance to compete against the other top dwarfs in the world," she said. "About five or six years ago, he was taking part in one of the Dwarf Athletic Association of America's mini camps, and at that time I told him I would try to do what I could to get Canada to the Dwarf World Games."
Competing in powerlifting isn't new to Balaberda, but competing against other dwarfs is.
"I've competed worldwide against tall people, but never against short-statured people like myself," he said. "It will be cool to see where I stack up against people my own size."
Balaberda has worked vigorously to continuously improve his numbers under the bench. The proof is in the pudding in his current best lifts.
"My best in bench-press in equipment was 374 pounds," said Balaberda. "And without equipment my best was 315, but I could have gone higher than that. In squat, I was lifting 584 with equipment and 450 without equipment."
For those unfamiliar with bench-press numbers, good or great aren't worthy enough to describe Balaberda's numbers. A more suitable adjective is unbelievable as it is unprecedented for a dwarf to bench that much.
But Balaberda's sport of choice hasn't always been powerlifting. When he was a young teenager, he was a hockey player.
"I use to play hockey and I really enjoyed it," said Balaberda. "But when I was about 14, I started having trouble competing with the other kids because they were growing a lot. I could keep up with some, but others were getting tough to keep up with, so that's when I knew I had to find a different sport that I could be competitive in."
Balaberda's older brother, Steven Halladay, who owns a powerlifting gym in Saskatoon, originally introduced him to weightlifting and helped mentor him along the way to his success.
"My brother use to babysit me when I was younger and he would take me to the gym and that's how I got introduced to lifting," said Balaberda. "He wanted to see how much I could lift one day, I was 14 at the time, and I lifted 150 pounds. So after that he started talking to me about lifting competitions and he helped me get into it."
Besides Balaberda, there are three other Saskatchewan dwarfs heading to Michigan this summer.
"Only one of every 40,000 people is a dwarf, so there aren't that many around," said Van De Bon-Nicol. "Money has also been an issue for some dwarfs and their families. You have to cover your own flight and transportation expenses. And there will also be expenses while you are there."
April 30 is the deadline for Canadian dwarfs to sign up for the 2013 World Dwarf Games.
