Greater Trail Special Olympians are flying high as they get set to compete in the 2013 Special Olympics BC Summer Games in Langley this weekend.
A total of 13 athletes and six coaches from Greater Trail will board a Pacific Coastal jet on Thursday at the Trail Airport joining 90 other Kootenay athletes, and over 1,100 expected to compete in the event from across B.C. And Yukon.
“Pacific Coastal has really stepped up to provide charters for these athletes, they’ve gone beyond what we expected,” said Special Olympic golf coach Ben Postmus.
The Greater Trail contingent includes bocce athletes Neil Emery, Bob Lattanzio, and Fred Crerar, five-pin bowlers Paula Prough, Maria Veltri, Tim McTeer, Gary Bjorgan, Stewart Babakoff, Kayleigh Postmus, and Arielle Cochrane, swimmers Alyssa Berdusco, Sherry Alrogge, and Stuart Hawton, and in Golf, William Thatcher and Al Cummings.
“We have some really good athletes attending, they’ve worked really hard, and we expect really good results,” added Postmus.
The more than 1,100 Special Olympic athletes from the eight SOBC regions and the Yukon will compete in 11 summer sports: 5- and 10-pin bowling, aquatics, athletics, basketball, bocce, golf, rhythmic gymnastics, powerlifting, soccer and softball. Athletes will show their love of sport and their inspiring sportsmanship as they compete for the opportunity to advance to the 2014 Special Olympics Canada Summer Games, which will be held in Vancouver.
These Games will mark the first time that Special Olympics BC and Yukon athletes participating in basketball, bocce and golf will be able to compete for the chance to advance to the National Games –these three current demonstration sports will be part of the Special Olympics Canada Games for the first time in 2014.
The athletes will catch the 9:45 a.m. flight to Vancouver Thursday to be ready for the opening ceremonies at 7 p.m. that night.
Competition begins Friday morning and winds up on Saturday night with closing ceremonies and a dance.