Community Involvement

Axis Insurance’s Athlete: Sam Danniels

Axis Insurance has been connected to Sam Danniels as part of Growing Champions™, a program that connects businesses in British Columbia to local high-performance athletes who compete at national and international levels, but who have not yet qualified for Canada’s national teams. By supporting Sam, we are bringing his passion, drive, and energy into our organization and sharing it with our staff and clients.

Sam, a Para Alpine Skier, has been extremely successful in his athletic career. He placed third in his first competition at the Silverstar NorAm/BC Provincials. When not competing Sam also contributes to his community by acting as an ambassador for the Rick Hansen Foundation, volunteering with the Whistler Adaptive Sports Program, and teaching other paraplegics to sit-ski. When Sam does have free time, he enjoys spending time with family and friends, as well as experimenting with new ideas in the kitchen.

For Sam, funding from Axis Insurance will help cover the cost of being a member of the BC Disabled Ski Team. Axis Insurance’s contribution will also help pay for Sam’s adaptive equipment for the 2007/2008 season and competition travel expenses.

Established in 2007 through a partnership between 2010 Legacies Now, Sport BC, PacificSport, BC Athlete Voice and the Province of BC, Growing Champions enables businesses and individuals to become actively engaged in BC’s sport system by directly funding local athletes on their journey to success.

"The World Cup event went better than I could ever dream! The first day of DH training I laid down the 5th fastest time! This was my debut to the World Cup, and it felt amazing. With some re-adjustment of my goals for the week, I went into the next two days hungry for good results. Day 2 of training; 3rd fastest time of the day, and the second fastest speed clocked, 113km/h! Race day came and I was feeling really confident and knew what I wanted from the course. I laid down the fourth fastest time of the day, only 3/100ths of a second from third place! It was an amazing experience and I can't wait for next season to start! Thank you a thousand times for your support this season, my race results speak for how much it has benefitted me!  Thank you to Tony and the entire Axis staff."  ~ Sam Danniels