Team BC figure skater Allan Tsang said, looking around at the Closing Ceremony for the 2012 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games, “anything is possible here.”
The National Games were exceptional with numerous stories of joy and sportsmanship, and Team BC athletes capped the final day of competition March 3, by adding even more with an unofficial medal tally of 117.
Team BC’s curlers, floor hockey teams and snowshoeing athletes were all in action on the final day of competition.
The B.C. Avalanche and Tigers took to the floor for Gold medal games in their respective divisions.
The Avalanche marched onto the floor with a rousing chant of “B.C.! B.C.!” from those on hand.
The opponents from Saskatchewan opened the scoring early in the game, getting one past Avalanche goalie Vincent Li. That first goal stood as the only goal scored in the game until the third and final period.
Vincent had an outstanding game, full of huge clutch stops.
The Avalanche fought to try for the equalizer, with strong play from everyone including Magnus Batara charging for the net even through opponents nearly twice his size were blocking his path.
The SK squad netted another goal late in the third period, but the Avalanche battled right until the end trying to tie it up.
They pulled their goalie and then had a two-man advantage after a trip on Garrett Baydala put them on the power play.
The final charge was hugely exciting, but 2-0 remained the final score after the flurry of action was over.
The Avalanche earned the Silver Medal in Division C and the respect of everyone who watched their determined play.
This is a team who take care of each other, show good sportsmanship and fight hard to the finish.
And the Tigers did very well indeed in their Division B gold-medal game against Team Ontario’s York South squad.
They came out flying, with Brad Hogan opening the scoring on his first shift. But Ontario fought back and Tigers goalie Jason Mills delivered a command performance in shutting the door on several great chances.
Jason, who sports No. 30 as an homage to Red Wings great Chris Osgood, made huge saves throughout the first and early in the second to keep the score 1-0.
His great play spurred on the Tigers offence to open up in a big way, with J.L. Hollywood scoring a beautiful goal for 2-0 – this SOBC – Campbell River athlete picked the top left corner of the Ontario net with a laser shot.
Ontario replied to the Hollywood marker by finally getting one by Mills, but Bill Polz struck back within seconds to preserve the Tigers’ two-goal lead at 3-1.
With that offensive firepower and Jason’s strong net minding, this included a huge save at the end of a two-man advantage for Ontario.
The Tigers went on to down the Ontario opponents 7-1 and win the Division B Gold Medal game.
Campbell River’s Darcy Hutter commended their Ontario opponents in explaining how he was “very nervous” before the big gold-medal game. “I’ve never played a team like this. They were really tough,” he said. But the Tigers trained hard for this moment and they made it count.
The B.C. Hot Shots from Victoria wound up finishing fourth in Division A after a nail biting bronze-medal game.
They went down 6-0 against Sudbury and clawed back to tie the game at 7-7.
The final score saw Sudbury nail down the bronze Medal by a score of 8-7.
The B.C. Rockers from Abbotsford and Surrey closed out a strong tournament by finishing fourth in Division B, after New Brunswick got ahead of them in the bronze-medal game.
A well-played tournament by Ashley Bowling, Jeff James, Mike Palitti, Percy Walker and Dale Wright, who worked hard to get there and made B.C. proud!
The B.C. Snow Jets snowshoeing crew closed out the 2012 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games experience with another amazing day of racing, this time in the 100m distance and relays.
There were six medals won by individual athletes, relay bronze medals captured by both the men and women, and remarkable personal best performances.
Victoria athlete Terri Carelius ran what Team BC mission staff member Rick Lucy called “the race of her life” and posted a time a full 30 seconds faster than her preliminary result.
The Snow Jets coaches also managed to make their athletes proud as they competed in the coach relay. Ron Aarstad, Maureen Brinson, Rick Lucy and Daniel Mallet blew away the competition with a big win, cheered on by their amazing athletes.
This group of athletes was highly praised by their coaches for meeting their team goals: staying positive, respecting themselves and the competition, and doing their best.
Speaking of acts of kindness, Team BC received two amazing presents from some incredible supporters.
Students in Vancouver’s University Hill Elementary School created 450 unique maple leaves for the Team BC athletes, each decorated to reflect the student’s background and containing a message for each Team BC athlete.
These students in kindergarten to Grade 7 were inspired by Team BC athlete Bridget Colvin, who came to speak during a mock Opening Ceremony event staged at the school.
They have truly embraced the spirit of inclusion and respect that Special Olympics is all about, and the Team BC athletes were honoured to receive their gifts delivered by teacher Eleni Georgantas.
The other amazing gift for the team was the scarves hand-knit for the 155 members of Team BC by supporters in Trail, Newfoundland (Maureen’s sister!) and the Lower Mainland.
They looked amazing with the snazzy Team BC jackets and were much appreciated by all who received them.
The Closing Ceremony was a particularly special event for Team BC, because B.C. had a role as the host province for the next National Games, the 2014 Special Olympics Canada Summer Games.
First, figure skater Marc Theriault addressed the crowd in French to express his excitement about welcoming everyone to B.C. in 2014, and then cross-country skier Cecilia Rodriguez of Vancouver and alpine skier Jonathan Robins of Cranbrook took the stage.
This to help receive the Special Olympics Canada flag from Team Alberta athletes.
After that exciting moment, Tom Norton of Surrey RCMP represented the BC Law Enforcement Torch Run to receive the flame from the Provincial Director of Alberta’s LETR.
They marched out ahead of Jonathan and Cecilia, who proudly bore the flag out toward the future Games in B.C.
