Burnaby NOW • Friday, June 13, 2014 • 39
40 Moscrop top athletes 40 Caprice watershow
40 Dynamo swim results
SECTION COORDINATOR Tom Berridge, 604-444-3022 • tberridge@burnabynow.com
Special Angels in the outfield Tom Berridge
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sports editor
Burnaby Special Olympics has its own Angels in the outfield. The team of 16 local women with intellectual disabilities recently fielded what is believed to be B.C.’s first-ever all-female team at a mixed Special Olympics softball tournament in Coquitlam. The Angels, who have been practising diligently at Willingdon Park for most of the spring season in preparation for their first realtime game, finished third overall. In the tourney, the women defeated an all-male team and lost to another, while tying its last game with a coed team. “They were pretty ecstatic,” said Burnaby softball coach Paul Colvin. “The whole concept began a few years ago when I was the program coordinator for Special Olympics Burnaby,” Colvin said. There was a drive to increase the numbers of female athletes, and what resulted has been a number of firsts for the Burnaby women. In 2008, there were enough athletes to form the organization’s first all-female curling team. The Rockettes went all the way to the Special Olympics Canada national games. Two of the local women on that curling team were selected to go to the World Games and Colvin and his wife went along to support them. At the worlds held in Greece, Colvin witnessed an all-female softball team from the host nation taking part. Shortly after that, somehow the seed was sewn for a similar experiment right here in Burnaby. “I don’t know if they had heard me talking about it but it was them that came up with the idea,” Colvin said. He agreed to help, but on one condition. “They had to go out and recruit the girls and they did it,” he added. The team brought 16 women
Big winners at Grand Prix meet Tom Berridge sports editor
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Females first: Nadaley Gittens, left, practises throwing and catching with Burnaby Angels teammate Ashley Gray on what is believed to be B.C.’s first all-female Special Olympics softball team. out, including seven who had never played softball in their lives. Three others came over from a mixed team they played with the season before. “A lot of my friends just wanted to try it,” said Artisia Wong, one of the starters on the 2008 women’s curling team. “I said, ‘If you don’t like it,’ but they all liked it, so we’re going to do it next year.” The experience was empowering for the women and positive on a number of levels, said Colvin. “They have all shown improvement in every aspect of the game. They feel safe and secure, and
Ringette numbers going up across Canada and in B.C. in 2014
they have grown,” Colvin said. “Everyone was successful at batting and making plays in the field.” But perhaps more importantly, they learned to trust and support each other. One player got hurt and couldn’t play, but became a super go-to person in the dugout. Another, who was one of the more competitive athletes and used to get down on herself when things didn’t go right, has become one of the strongest supporters of the other girls on the team. “The main thing is the support they give each other. They are in
tune that they are on an all-female team,” said Colvin. “Yeah, it was our best times together,” Wong added. “It was good, we were the first team for curling, too. That was fun, you didn’t have guys telling you what to do.” And that realized identity has spawned a whole new set of possibilities for the women. “A lot of us are trying to ask Paul for a floor hockey team that’s not too competitive. “Yeah, I am (proud). I think it’s more better girls helping each other. With boys, they expect you to do it,” she said.
Ringette Canada reports the number of registered players in Canada is going up nationwide. As of the end of the 2014 season, total numbers for all of Canada reached an all-time high of 30,398. Increases in player numbers were highest in Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, but Alberta, Quebec and B.C. also achieved significant increases, stated Ringette Canada. “This is an exciting time for ringette in Canada. Athletes have many options to excel in sport across this country and reaching this significant milestone speaks volumes to what ringette has to offer,” said executive director of Ringette Canada Natasha Johnston in a media release. “This is something our entire ringette community can be proud of.” To register for the upcoming ringette season, go to the Burnaby/New Westminster association website at bnwr.ca and click on registration.
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Ashley Ko came away with a bounty of medals from the Burnaby Barracudas’ Grand Prix swim meet last weekend. The first-year Barracuda club summer swimmer won five Division 1 races, including the 50- and 100metre freestyle and 100m individual medley. Ko also won a sixth medal, placing second in the 50m butterfly at the two-day meet held at Central Park outdoor pool. Barracuda swimmers came away with 45 individual medals, including 16 gold. The Burnaby Mountain Mantas boasted 17 individual gold medals – a dozen coming from three club swimmers, who all garnered four wins in their respective age categories. Hannah Cui won the free, the backstroke and IM at Div. 3, while Octavia Lau did the same at Div. 4. Bryan Yu won the 100m breaststroke and fly, as well as the free and IM in Div. 5 boys’ races. Other big winners from the host ’Cudas were Cayden Liang, who won the Div. 2 boys’ free sprint and placed runner-up in three other races. Div. 2 Conlin Duong and Div. 3 Ernest Hoptioncann both won two gold and a bronze. Gareth Jones also won a pair of gold in Div. 6. Randy Ho also won a gold, three silvers and a bronze in Div. 6 boys. Also winning gold for the hosts were Alessia Marquez and first-years Adam Graham and Fernando Lu. Other multi-medallists included Justin Lee, Emi Wong, Cameron Dickson and Rowan Cheung. Garrett Yeo, Maria Sulaver, Martina Blazevic, Natalia Blazevic, Mari Swim Page 40
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