The stage is set for this weekend's dress rehearsal for Team Alberta at the Special Olympics Canada Winter Games.
The last training camp before the Feb. 28 to March 3 national Games in St. Albert and Jasper will be attended by 112 athletes, coaches and mission staff.
"The whole intent of this weekend is to try and get as close to competition as possible. We'll do a number of orientation sessions for our athletes and coaches because we're in the homestretch now," said Johnny Byrne, the chef de mission for Team Alberta. "It will give the athletes a bit of that feel of what the games are going to be like. It will really ramp it up for them and give them that motivation for that final month and a half of training."
The last training camp was held in Red Deer in May.
"There is definitely that excitement of being together again as Team Alberta," Byrne said. "We've got a real good group of athletes and coaches and they're all pretty excited to be coming to St. Albert."
The provincial delegation of curlers, figure skaters, snowshoers and cross-country skiers will test out their St. Albert venues on Saturday morning. Alpine skiers will train at Rabbit Hill and the floor hockey players will gather at the Metro Sportplex in Edmonton. All the venues are open to the public.
"From the athletes perspective it's extremely important to get out to their competitive venues. It makes it feel very real for them," Byrne said. "Our coaches also get to see them in that environment and see how they react. It gives a chance to see how they want to work with the athletes at the venues so when it comes to the national Games they've already got their systems worked out."
A lack of snow could change the training itinerary for cross-country skiing at Kingswood Park, snowshoeing at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club and alpine skiing, which will be held at Marmot Basin in Jasper during the Games.
"We were expecting a bit more snow at this point," Byrne said. "If there is no snow our coaches may have to assess and figure out what the athletes can do while still getting to know the venue."
Indoor sessions at Servus Credit Union Place is another option if the warm weather continues.
"We'll definitely be working out inside or outside with those teams," Byrne said.
Special guests
Jamie Sale, an Olympic gold medal figure skater who serves on the Special Olympics Alberta board of directors, will visit the curling teams at the St. Albert Curling Club at noon before joining the figure skaters at Servus Place at 2 p.m.
"She will be on the ice with the figure skaters to give them some motivation and tips," Byrne said.
Special Olympics athletes will also provide curling instructions to Sale and other celebrities before they play a four-team all-star game at 12:30 p.m. with world-class curlers Marc Kennedy, Randy Ferbey, David Nedohin, Blake MacDonald, Carter Rycroft and Jamie King.
"In the morning they're going to do a team specifics training camp where the teams get to go over the venue and get used to the ice," Byrne said. "The afternoon portion is definitely going to be more for fun. We'll mix up our athletes with the high level curlers. It's going to be a great opportunity for our athletes to curl with some of them."
Another weekend highlight will be the presentation of Team Alberta uniforms to the 78 athletes.
"It will really help reinforce that this is real now. It's turning into Team Alberta for them," Byrne said. "It's a pretty special moment for everybody and it's very cool, especially being the host province."
During the weekend Team Alberta will stay at the athletes village at the Mayfield Inn & Suites and the Ramada Conference Centre.
"At every opportunity we try to duplicate what is going to be done at nationals. Obviously we're not going to have all the bells and whistles and we're not going to have all the people who will be there at nationals, but it will still give people an idea of where you're going to be sleeping, these are the routes you're going to be taking and this is the venue you're going to be staying at," Byrne said.
Alberta is the third largest team going to the Games. In total, 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 the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
"We've got a fairly sizeable team so this weekend is a good opportunity to see how things work with smaller sample sizes. You can plan as much as you want but there is always going to be surprises so what we're trying to do is get things ready as much as possible," Byrne said. "We want to make sure that we do the province proud. From the work we know being done by the residents of St. Albert and the organizing committee, they're ready to go so now we've got to live up to our end of the bargain and make sure that we represent Alberta with great pride."
The training camp will also give several of the 754 volunteers a good idea what to expect.
"Some of the volunteers are planning on doing their orientation this weekend and work with our athletes and see how the venue works for them," Byrne said. "We'll be working closely with them to help them get ready."
