Carol Bernier doesn鈥檛 leave much room for doubt when she calls a shot.
鈥淩ight here,鈥� she says, tapping the ice firmly with her broom as she holds her hand up to let her teammate know which way the rock needs to be turning.
鈥淚 like telling them how to throw the rocks and stuff,鈥� said Bernier, the skip of the 鈥�91原创 1鈥� rink at the annual Special Olympics 91原创 bonspiel held Sunday at the .
鈥淚t鈥檚 great.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 an awesome sport,鈥� said another 91原创 player, Bobbie Barth, who has been competing in curling events since 2001.
The all-day event attracted teams from across the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley, including curlers from Vancouver, Abbotsford, Surrey, Coquitlam and Richmond.
The Vancouver rink finished first, with the 91原创 2 and Langey 1 teams coming in second and third.
The 91原创 bonspiel comes a week after the regional curling qualifier was held in Abbotsford for the next Special Winter Olympics in B.C.
Athletes who competed in Abbotsford should know if they are going to the B.C. games by the fall, said 91原创 head coach Deb Kovacs, whose daughter Kati is among the competitors.
Kovacs said while the 91原创 event isn鈥檛 a qualifier, it is still taken seriously by the curlers.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 like to call it a 鈥榝un-spiel鈥�,鈥� Kovacs said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 still (an opportunity) for them to get experience for competition.鈥�
The coach said the Special Olympics version of curling follows the Canadian curling association rules, with a notable difference being the use of pushing sticks by some competitors to launch the stones, stead of pushing off from the hack and sliding.
鈥淎 lot of our athletes do use sticks to deliver the rock because its easier for them to use that as opposed to getting out of the hack,鈥� Kovacs said.
The Special Olympics B.C. (SOBC) website notes that curling programs are offered at selected clubs based on athlete interest in Nakusp, Kamloops, Penticton, Vernon, Kelowna, Princeton, Chilliwack, Coquitlam, Surrey, Ridge Meadows, Abbotsford, 91原创, Richmond, Burnaby, Delta, Vancouver, Squamish, Sunshine Coast, Port Alberni, Victoria, Comox Valley, Nanaimo, Oceanside, Powell River, Terrace, Smithers, Prince Rupert, Kitimat, Burns Lake, Prince George and Quesnel
Since 1980, Special Olympics B.C. (SOBC), a registered charitable organization, has provided sports programs and competitions for people with intellectual disabilities 鈥渆nriching lives, and celebrating personal achievement through positive sport experiences鈥� the website said.
An estimated 3,500 athletes participate in Special Olympics BC sports programs in 54 communities across British Columbia.
That includes 18 year-round sports, like curling.
The 2017-18 season of winter-sport regional qualifiers is currently underway to select the SOBC athletes who qualify for the , which is expected to be the largest in B.C. history, with more than 800 athletes with intellectual disabilities from across the province and the Yukon attending to compete in eight sports from Feb. 21-23 next year.
Sports at the Greater Vernon Games will include five-pin bowling, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, floor hockey, snowshoeing and speed skating.
The provincial games are the provincial qualifiers to the 2020 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games in Thunder Bay, Ontario, which will be the qualifier for the 2021 Special Olympics World Winter Games.
dan.ferguson@langleytimes.com
Like us on and follow us on
