This year’s Special Olympics were very special indeed, for all the participants and volunteers.
It happened to be incredibly special for one Lakes District athlete in particular. Danny Tress came home from the 2023 Special Olympics Winter Provincial Games (SOWPGs) the golden boy of snowshoeing.
The games were held Feb. 2-4, with Tress the only representative competing for the Burns Lake region. He had friends from the other parts of Zone 7, though, and they made it an event to remember. Tina Giesbrecht is Tress’s coach and is also the Chef du Mission for the zone. She described how she and Tress “met up at the Smithers airport with coach Sandra Schuffert and Smithers athletes Torben Schuffert and Ann Forbes. The three athletes competed in snowshoe, racing distances from 100m to 5 km. All three athletes came home with medals.”
Tress came home with two: bronze in the 100-metre snowshoe distance, and gold in the 200-metre length.
A curling team from Terrace also represented Zone 7.
Overall, the SOWPGs had about 500 competitors with intellectual disabilities who came together from all over the province in the events of five-pin bowling, alpine skiing, cross country skiing, curling, figure skating, floor hockey, snowshoeing, and speed skating. The participating athletes were supported by approximately 250 volunteer coaches and mission staff, and a community volunteer contingent that brought the total to about 1,000 people donating their time to make the event a success.
This year’s SOWPGs were held in Kamloops, where it all began. Kamloops hosted the first-ever Special Olympics BC Games in 1986, and went on to host Winter Games in 2003 and 2015, plus the Summer Games in 2017. It was a practical advantage while reviving the systems after the pandemic.
“As this was the first time Provincial Games have been held since the start of COVID, athletes and coaches were thrilled to get together again with friends from other locals,” said Giesbrecht. “Special Olympics is a big family, one where the rewards of volunteering are too numerous to mention. Our local is always looking for volunteers to get our athletes participating in sport year-round. Currently the Burns Lake local has snowshoe and club fit running. In the spring, bocce will run. If you have a love of volunteering with athletes, who have an intellectual disability, and would like to support our currently running sports, or start another sport to enhance the lives of our athletes, contact our Community Development Coordinator, Jasmine Webster.”
Webster can be reached at jwebster@specialolympics.bc.ca or local coordinator Denise Cunningham can be reached at denise.ldcs@gmail.com. Burns Lake has had up to 30 athletes all at the same time, involved in different Special Olympics sports, summer and winter combined. There are hopes those numbers can grow again.
