LEVINE Alison

Classification
BC4 (alisonlevine.ca, 19 Jun 2020)

Impairment Details
She was diagnosed with a degenerative neuromuscular disorder after starting to show symptoms at age 12. The condition causes weakness and spasticity in her muscles. (alisonlevine.ca, 19 Jun 2020; muscle.ca, 07 Aug 2015)

General
RELAXED APPROACH
She tries to remain relaxed on court as she believes it helps her perform well. "When I am relaxed and having fun on court is when I play my best. When you see me goofing around compared to the other boccia athletes that have their headphones on, they are all intense, you might think, 'Well, she is not taking it seriously. Maybe she doesn't want to actually win the medal. She just likes travelling the world'. That's not the case." She says she began taking this approach after she almost quit the sport following a period of success. "As athletes we are perfectionists and we want to be the best. When you start getting really good, you start analysing all the little bad things in order to be even better. And I guess the pressure just got to me and I was scared." (paralympic.org, 26 Feb 2020)

RELATIONSHIP WITH MOTHER
Her mother has served as her sports assistant, and also works as a nurse. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Levine was unable to see her mother for a number of months as she was at high risk of the virus due to her condition. "From going to seeing her at minimum three or four days a week, I haven't had any physical contact with her for over three months [speaking in June 2020]. It's been hard and I always said the thing that I miss the most is just giving her a big hug. So super mum does what she always does and builds herself a 'hugging suit' out of garbage bags, and met me outside my apartment. We were both masked-up and this was 32 degrees outside but she dressed herself in garbage bags and gave me that super mum hug that everyone needs once in a while, and that just speaks as to who she is." (Teddy Katz YouTube channel, 19 Jun 2020)

ROLE MODEL
She hopes to inspire women and girls around the world to get involved in sport. "It almost gives me a feeling of responsibility to make sure to promote that point so that if there's any girls that are watching, it can be in the back of their mind, 'Well if she can do it, I can do it'. Growing up as girls we are often intimidated to try sports because you know there is these big guys on the court and women often get put down and told they are not good enough. I am able to be proof and tell people it doesn't matter, especially in a sport like boccia that is mixed [gender]. Put me against a guy, put me against a girl, I am going to beat you." (paralympic.org, 26 Feb 2020)

OTHER ROLES
She has served as a member of the Canadian Paralympic Committee Athletes' Council. (cjnews.com, 03 Jul 2019)

In October 2019 she became the first female boccia player to be ranked number one in the world in the BC4 category by the Boccia International Sports Federation [BISFed]. (paralympic.ca, 08 Oct 2019)