Medal winners from the Bob Pedde bowling tournament in Saskatoon are shown here, from left to right: Anne Anderson, Rachelle Dahl, Chad Riendeau, Phillip Sperling and Colton Fast.

Kevin McBain
of The Clarion

The competitive season for athletes who are part of the Kindersley and District Special Olympics organization is winding down.

In their most recent action, several athletes attended the annual Bob Pedde five-pin bowling championships in Saskatoon and came back with several awards.

The event held April 28 and 29 featured about 100 bowlers coming from across the province competing in singles and team events. Players are grouped according to their level of ability. They played three games each on Saturday and Sunday.

In the singles competition, Anne Anderson earned a gold medal; Colton Fast earned a silver; and Rachelle Dahl, Phillip Sperling and Chad Riendeau each earned bronze medals.

Our local players were split into two teams for the team event. Team 1 made up of Riendeau, Sperling, Dahl and Joey Phillips earned a silver medal. Team 2 earned a gold medal and that team consisted of Anderson, Fast, Danielle Faubert and two Saskatoon athletes.

This tournament is a sanctioned event and the athletes who competed are now eligible to attend the Saskatchewan Winter Games that will be held in February 2019 in Regina.

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The bowlers will continue practising – bowlers from Kindersley and Eston play each Thursday, while bowlers from Kerrobert join them every second Thursday. Most days seven of the eight lanes are booked with players ranging in age from nine to 70.

The local organization will host their own tournament June 2, inviting players from across the province to come and compete. This is the last tournament (third of the season) for members of the Special Olympics’ team.

The next activity for local athletes, however, takes place today (Wednesday) in Saskatoon when four athletes will compete in a track and field meet.

Stephen Neiszner, program co-ordinator of the local organization for the past five years, said that he really enjoys working with the athletes and can’t say enough about the Special Olympics program. He hopes that more people would get involved.

“It is really hard to explain,” he said. “It is such a great program and you have to volunteer and be a part of it to get the most out of it.

“The athletes are so great to be around. They are so enthusiastic and their parents are behind them 100 per cent,” added Neiszner. “You become just like a big family.”

The local program consists of 32 athletes with about 18 volunteers coming from a region that encompasses all areas within an hour of Kindersley.

Neiszner said that the program is just so good for the Special Olympians and it doesn’t matter whether they win or lose, it is more about being a part of activities and socializing with others.

“A lot of the athletes that join Special Olympics are stuck in a shell, but they soon gain confidence in themselves and their abilities,” he said. “We get them to try new things and if they don’t like it, they can move on to something else.

“And it is not just about playing a sport, they gain so much confidence and personal skills as well,” he adds. “One of the big things that I’ve noticed is that as they get more comfortable in the sporting environment, they gain more confidence as a person.

“It is also good for the parents. When their kids join, they start by just hanging around and watching, but they soon learn they can leave them and let them do their thing,” he added. “In turn, the athletes gain the ability to get time away from their parents and spread their wings.”

Athletes from the area are involved in track and field, bowling, snowshoeing and bocce. However, there is definitely room for more activities, but it is mainly based on the number of volunteers that are available.

“There are so many activities that they can get involved in, but it depends on the volunteer pool that we have to run the programs,” he said.

One of the programs that he mentioned is really good for the athletes and away from the normal sporting activities, is the Athlete Leadership Training program. Participants learn to do public speaking and it gives them the confidence and ability to emcee or co-emcee events.

Athletes can also continue to climb the ladder on the sports side of things.

They can go from qualifiers to provincials to nationals and even be a part of Team Canada in certain sports. Coralee Cooke and Joey Phillips have both competed at the national level.

Volunteers also have that same opportunity. For example, Neiszner is going as a part of the mission staff with Team Sask. swimmers one of which is from North Battleford to the 2018 Summer Games that will be held in Antigonish, N.S.

Following the June 2nd bowling tournament the program will go on its summer break until October when a volunteer/athlete registration and information night will be held.

The program has been around a long time in Kindersley and area and earned a re-boot in 2010 after a bit of time off. The Special Olympics on the worldwide stage is celebrating their 50th year.

The program is for anyone with intellectual disabilities.

There is a lot of stigma surrounding Special Olympics, but Neiszner said that in this program they are not made to feel different. They are all one family.

Neiszner says that the program really continues to grow.

“We started off working with the guys and girls in the group homes and activity centre,” he said. “Then we expanded to the Kerrobert and Eston area and now we are starting to work with the schools.

“Once the kids get out of middle school they can get into our regular programming and start competing,” he added.

The program receives support from many areas including the federal and provincial government and Sask. Lotteries.

They also do several fundraisers which helps cover much of the cost for the athletes during the season and for the coaches to help keep up the cost of getting certified where they need to be.

Next year, the group is going to have a large fundraiser in the fall and at the provincial level, they are currently selling tickets for a 50/50 draw.

Registration fees are very low for coaches and athletes, sitting at $10 and that covers most of the costs for the regular programming. However, bowling does cost extra.

For more information you can contact Neiszner at 306-460-0220 or by email at [email protected] or you can check them out on their Facebook page: Special Olympics Kindersley and District.

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special olympics