The spotlight will shine on the Special Olympics movement when St. Albert and Jasper host the 2012 national winter games for athletes with intellectual disabilities.
More than 650 athletes from all 10 provinces and two territories will compete in seven sports for medals and the right to represent Canada at world championships next year in South Korea.
“The reality is Special Olympics is something that happens 24/7, 365 days of the year, but nationals gives us the platform and the opportunity to really express the movement,” said Susana Petti, director of marketing and public relations at Special Olympics Canada. “It’s a remarkable movement that has that incredible capacity to create amazing change in people’s lives.”
The national non-profit organization provides training and competition opportunities to more than 34,000 athletes of all ages and disabilities through local sport clubs and a dedicated network of 16,000 volunteers, including 13,000 trained coaches.
“It’s remarkable to talk to parents if their son or daughter struggled in school or with friends and how Special Olympics opened up a world of opportunity for that son or daughter,” Petti said. “It goes back to giving everybody the opportunity to be able to be their best, to compete and to hopefully perform way beyond what they would have ever imagined themselves to do.
“It’s also remarkable to see what happens with athletes to have somebody actually cheering them on from the stands and how excited they get about it.”
Petti expects the athletes will be treated like the champions they are.
“We know the athletes are going to be given a great Alberta welcome. This is a real milestone for each of them and to be extended that warm sense of greeting that you’ve arrived, you’re here and we’re thrilled that you’re here means a lot to them,” she said. “We’ve been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and the commitment shown by the communities of St. Albert and Jasper. It’s been phenomenal. A very tangent example of that is the people who came forward at the very beginning to volunteer their skills and their talents and their passion by sitting on the Games Organizing Committee and all those various sub committees. You’ve got some really interesting people who come from all walks off life from different industry sectors.”
Organizers have signed up 754 volunteers for the Feb. 28 to March 3 national championship.
“People who come to volunteer for Special Olympics will always say they get so much more than they give. You get immediately hooked,” Petti said. “When you’re standing on the sideline you get reeled right in so it’s hard not to get passionate and enthusiastic about it. People start to see the individuals with intellectual disabilities differently. They see them as the athlete now, which maybe they weren’t seen as before, and they see them potentially as a champion.”
Cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, snowshoeing, floor hockey and speed skating will be staged in St. Albert. Jasper is hosting alpine skiing at Marmot Basin.
“It’s a huge sporting event that’s going to roll through those two communities. There is a lot of anticipation, a lot of excitement.” Petti said. “The athletes are really getting excited. They get their updates through their chefs de mission about how the community is going to entertain them from the moment they step foot in St. Albert and Jasper, through the opening ceremonies and the quality of competitions that they’re going to experience over the five days there and through the closing ceremonies.”
GAMES NOTES: Next weekend Team Alberta will hold a training camp in St. Albert in preparation for the games. Dan Huising, a floor hockey player from St. Albert, is one of the 78 athletes on the provincial team.
Games organizers are still looking for medically trained volunteers and trained photographers. For more information, contact the games office at 780-458-4564 or visit www.stalbert2012.ca.
Canada was represented by 81 athletes at the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Boise, Idaho.
