Former Prince Albert Minto Kyrell Sopotyk committed to the University of Arizona in wheelchair basketball on Wednesday. Here, Sopotyk is seen playing with Team Saskatchewan at the 2023 Canada Winter Games. (Kyrell Sopotyk/Instagram)

By Logan Lehmann

Committed

Former Minto Kyrell Sopotyk commits to Arizona in wheelchair basketball

Jun 12, 2025 | 2:20 PM

A former Prince Albert Minto turned wheelchair basketball star has committed to the University of Arizona.

Kyrell Sopotyk is taking his talents to Tucson just four years after picking up the sport following a life-altering injury.

“I chose Arizona because it will provide me with an exceptional training environment to enhance my skills and excel as a player within a prestigious program,” said Sopotyk in a social media post. “[I’m] looking forward to this opportunity while pursuing my education.”

In January 2021, Sopotyk suffered a spinal cord injury while snowboarding at Table Mountain near North Battleford, paralyzing him and abruptly ending his hockey career.

He played 52 games for the Mintos across three seasons from 2016-2018, scoring 72 points (47G-25A) while leading the Sask. Male AAA Hockey League (SMAAAHL) in goals with 42 in the 2016-17 season. After his time in P.A., he moved to Kamloops to play for the Blazers in the Western Hockey League (WHL) and spent two seasons there from 2018-2020.

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Sopotyk during his time on the Prince Albert Mintos. (File photo/paNOW Staff)

In an interview with Wheelchair Basketball Canada in September 2022, he said he wasn’t immediately sold on the sport.

“I actually tried it in rehab when I was in the hospital, but I was by myself, so wasn’t very enjoyable. Rob Sajtos sent me a text when I was out of the hospital and just said, ‘Hey, I’m the coach, wondering if you’d be willing to come out and try wheelchair basketball.’ So I went out one Tuesday evening and tried it, met some of the other players, and kept going out ever since.”

Sopotyk has seen a ton of success in the world of adaptive sports since making the shift.

He won bronze for Saskatchewan in the 1,500-metre wheelchair race at the Canada Summer Games just eight months after the accident in August 2021. He also was named the Junior Athlete of the Year in 2022 by Wheelchair Basketball Canada after earning tournament all-star honours at Junior Nationals and representing Canada at U-23 Worlds in Phuket, Thailand.

In 2023, he captured his first gold medals in track and field, winning the T53 800-metre, 400-metre, and 1500-metre wheelchair races at the Canadian Track & Field Championships in Langley, and just last year, Sopotyk won the 2024 Canadian Wheelchair Basketball League National Championship with the Calgary Rollers in Fredericton, N.B.

Sopotyk (#27) poses for a photo with his Calgary Rollers team after winning the 2024 Canadian Wheelchair Basketball League National Championship. (Fran Harris/Wheelchair Basketball Canada via Western Hockey League)

Now, he’s training non-stop in an effort to one day represent Canada at the Paralympics in both wheelchair basketball and track and field.

“I have huge goals to represent Canada national level, Paralympics, so right now I’m just training towards that and just keep pushing myself and learning as much as I can,” he said in an interview with the WHL in May 2024.

Earlier this year, the Arizona Wildcats men’s wheelchair basketball team crowned themselves 2025 National Champions at the 47th Annual National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball Tournament, defeating UT Arlington 75-65 in the finals.

-with files from Wheelchair Basketball Canada, Western Hockey League

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

On Bluesky: @loganlehmann.bsky.social