PORT HARDY—With a successful first executive meeting out of the way, and coaches registered and waiting in the wings, Special Olympics BC has all the pieces in place to launch a Mount Waddington chapter.
Well, all except one: the athletes.
Now that the operational side is in place, the newest chapter of the SOBC community is calling for those with an interest in taking part in an aquatics program to get in touch with local coordinator Anita Brennan. All athletes must be fully registered by April 4 to participate in the program.
The Special Olympics’ mission is to provide individuals with intellectual disabilities opportunities to enrich their lives and celebrate personal achievement through positive sport experiences. The program offers 18 sports which give athletes the opportunity to compete in local, regional, national and international competition.
The local chapter will begin by offering swimming which, under the SOBC program, covers 25- to 200-metre races in the four major strokes as well as medley and relay events.
Community Development Manager Bobby Debrone explained that in the future the chapter would look at expanding into other sports, like 5-pin bowling, but chose to focus on the aquatics program at launch.
“We’re still looking at the idea of expanding into bowling,” he said, “but we wanted to do one thing really well first.”
While 5-pin may be a little further down the road, local organizers are keen to gauge interest in launching an Active Start program.
The 18 summer and winter sports in the regular SOBC program are open to athletes 8 years old and up, while the Active Start program is aimed at children from 2-6 years old.
Active Start is a 12-week family-centred activity program. Through the Active Start program, children learn basic motor skills such as walking, running, jumping and throwing in a fun and asafe environment.
If you are interested in learning more about the Active Start program, or to register an athlete for the aquatics program, contact Anita Brennan at 250-230-9005 or anitabrennan14@gmail.com.
If you would like to get involved as a volunteer get in touch with Courtenay Cox at 250-902-8426 or cox.courtenaym@gmail.com.