Special Olympics BC Games Ready To Open

Feb 21, 2019 | 12:00 PM

The countdown is on for the 2019 Special Olympics BC Winter Games.

More than 800 athletes, coaches and officials are coming to Vernon for the three day event.

The opening ceremony at 7:30 tonight will see the athletes and their teams marching into Kal Tire Place.

Dignitaries will include first Vancouver Canucks captain Orland Kurtenbach who is the Games Honourary Coach.

Competition in eight sports will be held Friday and Saturday.

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Eight athletes are from the local area competing in four sports: Mary Adamson, snowshoeing; Colby Bell, alpine skiing; Matthew Bisschop, cross country skiing; Dominique Borgeaud, cross country skiing; Justin Chippendale, snowshoeing; Crystal Rohrer, alpine skiing; Steven Schwebbach, floor hockey; and Justin Sigal, cross country skiing.

“This is my first Provincial Games and I want to do the best I can,” Bisschop says.

Find out more about the local athletes here

The Opening Ceremony, which is free admission, will include entertainment from the École Beairsto Elementary choir, DJ PK, and the Law Enforcement Torch Run bearing in the Flame of Hope to light the brand-new Special Olympics BC cauldron created by A-1 Machine & Welding.
SOBC has never before had its own cauldron to keep and endure from Games to Games.

“This will be an incredible legacy from Greater Vernon,” says a media release from organizers.

Venues include Silver Star Mountain for alpine skiing, cross country skiing at Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre, speed skating at Kal Tire Place North, curling at the Vernon Curling Club, figure skating at the Priest Valley Arena, floor hockey at the Priest Valley Gym, and 5-pin bowling at Lincoln Lanes.

A closing ceremony, open only to Games competitors, will be held on Saturday, followed by a volunteer recognition breakfast on February 24.

Top performers in Greater Vernon will qualify for spots on Team BC for the 2020 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games in Thunder Bay, Ontario, which will be the national qualifier for the 2021 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Sweden.

You can find out more at www.sobcgamesvernon.ca, along with SOBC on Facebook and Instagram @specialolympicsbc and Twitter @sobcsociety

by Corey Fischer