From media personality to decorated Special Olympian, Redmond does it all
On March 21, coinciding with World Down Syndrome Day, The Ontarion sat down with local Special Olympian, Taylor Redmond, to discuss his work on and off the court.
Redmond ON athletics
Redmond is a 26-year-old Special Olympian basketball player who has played competitively since the age of eight. In the offseason, Redmond is a decorated track and field athlete, winning four gold medals in shot put, javelin, 50-metre sprint, and long jump at the track and field provincials in Peel region.
Redmond’s success at the provincials qualifies him for the upcoming nationals in Antigonish, N.S. from July 1 to Aug. 4, 2018.
Redmond is coached by his father, Steve, who has been coaching him since he began playing almost 18 years ago. The pair began a Special Olympics program with only 12 athletes and one sport — basketball — here in the Guelph-Wellington area. Now they have expanded to five teams and 65 athletes.
Redmond ON his favourite basketball memory
Redmond’s favourite basketball moment occurred 10 years ago during the gold medal game in Oshawa. Redmond’s squad had one last adversity, a red-hot spot-up shooter, requiring a disciplined defence and strong box-outs.
“That was the year we had a whole lot of abilities, few who were taller, shorter,” Redmond said, “but we had to play this team from York South, and we had to cover this one guy who was shooting three-pointers like Stephen Curry, but we were able to box out on him [when he missed], and we won the game.”
Redmond and his squad were then able to count down the seconds to their gold medal victory.
“Normally, there aren’t three-point shooters [like that] in the Special Olympics, at least not in your division,” Redmond’s father said with a laugh.
Redmond ON being a media personality and public speaker
Off the court, Redmond’s body of work is extensive. He co-hosts a current events show (Redmond’s section focuses on local sports news), he runs an interview series with sports personalities, and he’s an ambassador and public speaker with various non-profit foundations, most notably motionball — a non-profit organization that raises awareness and funds for the Special Olympics.
In between his busy schedule, Redmond finds time to work part-time for Gryphons Athletics as an intramural referee and score recorder and to hit the weights to train for gold.
This notable Special Olympian has been an on-air personality for the last five years with CFRU, where he inherited his nickname, “The Boss.” For his interview series, he has spoken with sports legends like popular Canadian hockey personality, Don Cherry, and American driving icon, Mario Andretti.
“I think [Don Cherry] had some good answers. I liked the question about his favourite junk food. He said ‘fish sandwich with cheese,’” Redmond said chuckling.
For his public speaking gigs, Taylor has spoken to groups of all ages in the past, including Special Olympics International in Washington, a University of Guelph fourth year human kinetics class, the Guelph Wellington Men’s Club, and many others.
Redmond was chosen to be the 2018 Honorary Athlete for motionball; he has been an ambassador for motionball for years, helped facilitate charity events on campus for the past few years, and helped to spearhead YELLOWCARD day in 2015, which aimed to encourage Canadians to take a pledge to eliminate the casual and negative use of the R-word.
“Special Olympics started seeing he had this unique quality about being fearless, and he started being recognized in Toronto, where the motionball headquarters is,” Steve Redmond said.
After seeing Taylor Redmond’s impressive body of work, it’s clear to see why he’s called “The Boss.”